The most popular baby names of 1888

SSA recorded 299,474 births in 1888 across all reported names — 178,622 girls and 120,852 boys.

Top 100 girls' names in 1888

Rank, births, and the change in rank against 1887.
#	Name	Births	vs 1887
1	Mary	11,754	—
2	Anna	4,982	—
3	Elizabeth	3,224	—
4	Emma	3,087	—
5	Margaret	2,904	—
6	Minnie	2,654	—
7	Bertha	2,450	—
8	Florence	2,444	+1
9	Ethel	2,374	+2
10	Bessie	2,278	+3
11	Clara	2,230	-3
12	Ida	2,229	-2
13	Alice	2,202	+1
14	Annie	2,188	-2
15	Grace	2,090	—
16	Helen	1,847	+5
17	Mabel	1,830	+1
18	Ella	1,774	-2
19	Martha	1,769	-2
20	Sarah	1,755	—
21	Nellie	1,736	-2
22	Edna	1,687	+2
23	Lillian	1,656	+3
24	Carrie	1,647	-1
25	Laura	1,624	-3
26	Pearl	1,591	-1
27	Rose	1,590	+3
28	Gertrude	1,468	—
29	Edith	1,453	—
30	Frances	1,452	+4
31	Cora	1,433	-4
32	Maude	1,396	-1
33	Louise	1,334	+2
34	Eva	1,329	-1
35	Myrtle	1,310	+1
36	Hattie	1,298	-4
36	Jennie	1,298	+2
38	Julia	1,292	+1
39	Mattie	1,268	+1
40	Marie	1,258	+3
41	Lillie	1,249	-4
42	Catherine	1,212	+2
43	Jessie	1,200	-2
44	Lula	1,173	+3
45	Lena	1,162	-3
46	Ada	1,116	-1
47	Elsie	1,112	+2
48	Agnes	1,046	-2
49	Josephine	1,001	+1
50	Fannie	991	+2
51	Lucy	964	—
52	Blanche	942	+2
53	Mamie	917	+4
54	Dora	898	-6
54	Hazel	898	+18
56	Katherine	893	-3
57	Maggie	882	-2
58	Alma	853	+5
59	Ruth	850	+3
60	Mae	836	-2
61	Nora	832	-5
61	Rosa	832	-1
63	May	782	-2
64	Stella	775	-5
65	Effie	744	-1
66	Irene	722	+6
67	Nettie	692	-2
68	Ellen	691	-2
68	Sadie	691	+2
70	Sallie	633	-2
71	Della	621	+3
71	Susie	621	+4
73	Daisy	612	-6
74	Viola	596	+6
75	Lizzie	593	-7
76	Nancy	582	-5
77	Esther	572	+2
78	Flora	541	+4
79	Willie	522	+9
80	Katie	516	-3
81	Lottie	511	—
82	Etta	500	-4
83	Mildred	499	+6
84	Georgia	477	+7
85	Lydia	472	-9
86	Maud	469	-3
87	Olive	465	-2
88	Charlotte	464	+3
89	Caroline	458	-5
90	Emily	457	+8
91	Addie	455	-5
92	Jane	446	+15
92	Kathryn	446	-5
94	Ruby	445	+11
95	Beulah	426	-5
96	Ollie	411	—
97	Amanda	404	-1
98	Pauline	393	+6
99	Harriet	389	-5
100	Virginia	385	+1

Rank, births, and the change in rank against 1887.
#	Name	Births	vs 1887
1	John	9,247	—
2	William	8,705	—
3	James	5,562	—
4	George	4,912	—
5	Charles	4,591	—
6	Frank	3,459	—
7	Joseph	2,993	—
8	Robert	2,814	+2
9	Harry	2,759	+3
10	Henry	2,596	-2
11	Edward	2,470	-1
12	Thomas	2,449	-3
13	Walter	2,040	—
14	Arthur	1,710	—
15	Fred	1,665	—
16	Albert	1,569	—
17	Clarence	1,022	—
18	Samuel	931	—
19	Louis	884	—
20	Roy	856	—
21	David	801	+1
22	Charlie	796	+2
23	Joe	789	-2
24	Willie	786	+3
25	Benjamin	781	+9
26	Richard	772	-1
27	Ernest	766	-4
28	Will	707	+2
29	Carl	675	-1
29	Earl	675	+3
31	Oscar	647	-2
32	Jesse	637	-6
33	Andrew	615	—
34	Sam	607	+4
35	Daniel	566	-4
36	Ralph	547	+2
37	Alfred	536	-2
38	Paul	529	+2
39	Elmer	527	-3
40	Howard	513	+2
41	Peter	498	+2
42	Frederick	496	-5
43	Herbert	485	-2
44	Grover	474	+15
45	Raymond	469	+2
46	Michael	466	+2
47	Ben	463	+11
48	Lee	430	-4
49	Tom	416	+3
50	Lewis	412	-1
51	Herman	403	-6
52	Harrison	400	+77
53	Eugene	398	—
54	Martin	378	-3
55	Claude	374	-9
56	Jim	362	-6
57	Francis	353	-4
57	Jacob	353	-1
57	Leo	353	+16
60	Clyde	344	-5
61	Lawrence	343	-1
62	Harvey	334	+3
63	Ray	331	+3
64	Jack	329	+4
65	Edgar	321	-1
66	Otto	312	+1
67	Floyd	302	+6
68	Ed	301	-6
69	Edwin	298	-12
69	Harold	298	-8
71	Guy	297	—
72	Chester	288	+6
73	Bert	282	-1
74	Luther	275	-11
75	Allen	260	+6
76	Homer	256	-6
77	Charley	254	-2
77	Jessie	254	+9
79	Hugh	253	-10
80	Theodore	249	+2
81	Patrick	245	-5
82	Alexander	237	+5
83	Leonard	225	-5
84	Ira	222	-7
85	Isaac	221	-2
86	August	213	-3
87	Bernard	207	+10
88	Oliver	206	-8
89	Julius	197	+4
90	Leon	196	+9
90	Philip	196	+5
92	Clifford	194	-1
93	Anthony	193	+5
93	Eddie	193	+13
95	Leroy	192	-7
96	Archie	191	-11
97	Lester	189	-8
98	Stephen	187	-7
99	Leslie	175	-9
99	Lloyd	175	+9

Ranked by places gained against 1887, among names with at least 200 births in both years.

Name	Rank 1888	Rank 1887	Change
Hazel girls	54	72	+18
Gladys girls	117	134	+17
Leo boys	57	73	+16
Jane girls	92	107	+15
Grover boys	44	59	+15
Ora girls	113	125	+12
Leona girls	118	130	+12
Ruby girls	94	105	+11
Ben boys	47	58	+11
Willie girls	79	88	+9
Benjamin boys	25	34	+9
Emily girls	90	98	+8
Dorothy girls	103	111	+8
Georgia girls	84	91	+7
Theresa girls	101	108	+7

Name	Rank 1888	Rank 1887	Change
Amy girls	140	120	-20
Amelia girls	108	93	-15
Hannah girls	123	109	-14
Edwin boys	69	57	-12
Luther boys	74	63	-11
Hugh boys	79	69	-10
Lydia girls	85	76	-9
Mayme girls	137	128	-9
Claude boys	55	46	-9
Nannie girls	103	95	-8
Susan girls	106	98	-8
Harold boys	69	61	-8
Oliver boys	88	80	-8
Lizzie girls	75	68	-7
Ira boys	84	77	-7

1888 is the earliest year these names clear the SSA reporting threshold of five births.

For these names, 1888 is the single biggest year in the whole 1880–2025 record.