The most popular baby names of 1896

SSA recorded 357,483 births in 1896 across all reported names — 237,918 girls and 119,565 boys.

Top 100 girls' names in 1896

Rank, births, and the change in rank against 1895.
#	Name	Births	vs 1895
1	Mary	13,811	—
2	Anna	5,860	—
3	Helen	4,392	—
4	Margaret	4,050	—
5	Ruth	3,905	+1
6	Ethel	3,502	+2
7	Elizabeth	3,471	-2
8	Florence	3,323	-1
9	Marie	3,087	—
10	Emma	2,872	—
11	Lillian	2,702	+5
12	Alice	2,651	+5
13	Edna	2,604	+1
14	Clara	2,582	-2
15	Bertha	2,565	-4
16	Minnie	2,530	-3
17	Grace	2,485	+1
18	Bessie	2,435	-3
19	Annie	2,358	—
20	Rose	2,341	+1
21	Mabel	2,283	-1
22	Hazel	2,226	—
23	Gertrude	2,221	+1
24	Ida	2,159	-1
25	Pearl	2,101	+1
26	Martha	2,022	-1
27	Esther	1,964	+4
27	Frances	1,964	+2
29	Edith	1,932	-2
30	Myrtle	1,928	-2
31	Elsie	1,878	+1
32	Eva	1,779	+2
33	Gladys	1,757	+8
34	Nellie	1,696	-5
35	Sarah	1,691	-2
36	Ella	1,683	-1
37	Laura	1,665	-1
38	Agnes	1,654	+2
39	Mildred	1,620	—
40	Catherine	1,594	-2
41	Irene	1,593	+2
42	Louise	1,531	-5
43	Lillie	1,483	+1
44	Julia	1,407	+1
45	Carrie	1,388	-3
46	Dorothy	1,366	+11
47	Hattie	1,320	-1
48	Lena	1,318	+2
49	Mattie	1,288	+2
50	Josephine	1,256	-3
51	Alma	1,243	+4
52	Cora	1,204	-3
53	Jennie	1,178	—
54	Blanche	1,150	—
55	Mae	1,148	-3
56	Maude	1,104	—
57	Jessie	1,103	-9
58	Mamie	1,081	+1
59	Lucy	1,074	+2
60	Stella	1,054	—
61	Katherine	1,047	+4
61	Viola	1,047	+2
63	Ada	1,041	-5
64	Lula	1,012	—
65	Fannie	1,001	-3
66	Ruby	994	—
67	Marion	987	+2
68	Dora	874	—
69	Maggie	871	-2
70	Beatrice	870	+3
71	Nora	844	-1
72	Sadie	827	—
73	Ellen	811	+2
74	Rosa	808	-3
75	Pauline	756	+1
76	Willie	755	+2
77	Beulah	750	-3
78	Marguerite	725	+3
79	Susie	718	+4
80	Effie	716	-1
81	Vera	675	-4
82	May	671	-2
83	Daisy	661	+1
84	Evelyn	646	+3
85	Della	642	+1
86	Lucille	637	+15
87	Nettie	628	-5
88	Kathryn	625	+2
89	Virginia	621	-1
90	Olive	583	+1
91	Lydia	580	-6
92	Lottie	574	+3
93	Georgia	562	+1
94	Leona	556	+8
95	Hilda	549	+9
96	Emily	527	-7
96	Flora	527	—
96	Nancy	527	-3
99	Katie	516	+1
100	Lizzie	508	-1

Rank, births, and the change in rank against 1895.
#	Name	Births	vs 1895
1	John	8,138	—
2	William	7,747	—
3	James	5,206	—
4	George	4,286	—
5	Charles	3,639	—
6	Joseph	3,051	+1
7	Frank	2,845	-1
8	Robert	2,719	—
9	Edward	2,296	+1
10	Henry	2,183	-1
11	Harry	2,091	+1
12	Thomas	2,088	-1
13	Walter	2,017	—
14	Arthur	1,821	—
15	Albert	1,434	+1
16	Fred	1,393	-1
17	Clarence	1,254	—
18	Willie	1,092	—
19	Roy	1,027	—
20	Paul	964	—
21	Earl	892	+1
22	Louis	871	-1
23	Harold	862	+6
24	Raymond	859	+2
25	Carl	852	-3
26	Richard	834	+5
27	Joe	767	+1
28	David	765	+4
29	Ernest	764	-5
30	Ralph	746	—
31	Samuel	734	-6
32	Charlie	714	-5
33	Howard	677	—
34	Herbert	635	+2
35	Jesse	586	—
36	Elmer	576	-2
37	Andrew	566	—
38	Daniel	561	+2
39	Francis	551	+6
40	Jack	539	+6
40	Oscar	539	-1
42	Alfred	527	-4
43	Sam	518	—
44	Will	508	—
45	Eugene	507	+5
46	Lawrence	499	-5
47	Leo	497	-6
48	Lee	455	-1
49	Herman	427	—
50	Ray	426	+6
51	Benjamin	416	-3
52	Peter	402	+1
53	Michael	399	-1
54	Claude	398	+1
55	Floyd	396	-4
56	Lewis	386	+1
57	Frederick	381	-3
58	Clyde	372	+1
59	Edwin	351	+1
60	Leonard	350	+1
61	Martin	343	+4
62	Tom	339	—
63	Chester	329	-6
64	Russell	327	+2
65	Lester	318	+3
66	Clifford	311	+6
67	Lloyd	308	+8
68	Edgar	306	-4
69	Ben	299	-6
70	Harvey	292	—
71	Jim	281	—
72	Leroy	278	+6
73	Anthony	276	+13
74	Luther	265	-1
75	Hugh	263	+5
76	Eddie	262	+9
76	Guy	262	—
78	Stanley	259	+4
79	Homer	258	-12
80	Otto	250	-11
81	Ed	246	+3
82	Bernard	241	-5
82	Jacob	241	-8
82	Theodore	241	+11
85	Leslie	237	-4
86	Leon	235	+1
87	Alexander	232	+10
88	Archie	230	+1
89	Jessie	229	-10
90	Everett	224	+4
91	Allen	219	+7
92	Philip	218	-2
93	Patrick	214	-11
94	Donald	211	+2
95	Horace	204	-5
96	Victor	201	+2
97	Cecil	200	+3
98	Milton	194	+4
98	Oliver	194	-10
100	Isaac	191	+7

Ranked by places gained against 1895, among names with at least 200 births in both years.

Name	Rank 1896	Rank 1895	Change
Lois girls	123	144	+21
Sylvia girls	140	157	+17
Lucille girls	86	101	+15
Madeline girls	159	174	+15
Velma girls	174	188	+14
Estella girls	133	146	+13
Lucile girls	156	169	+13
Anthony boys	73	86	+13
Selma girls	176	188	+12
Dorothy girls	46	57	+11
Theodore boys	82	93	+11
Nannie girls	119	129	+10
Essie girls	126	136	+10
Hilda girls	95	104	+9
Mable girls	129	138	+9

Name	Rank 1896	Rank 1895	Change
Belle girls	176	155	-21
Allie girls	185	166	-19
Susan girls	138	120	-18
Nell girls	187	170	-17
Sara girls	143	127	-16
Lulu girls	181	165	-16
Amanda girls	129	115	-14
Nina girls	147	133	-14
Winifred girls	189	175	-14
Maud girls	157	145	-12
Celia girls	170	158	-12
Homer boys	79	67	-12
Augusta girls	165	154	-11
Otto boys	80	69	-11
Patrick boys	93	82	-11

1896 is the earliest year these names clear the SSA reporting threshold of five births.