The most popular baby names of 1897

SSA recorded 346,957 births in 1897 across all reported names — 234,200 girls and 112,757 boys.

Top 100 girls' names in 1897

Rank, births, and the change in rank against 1896.
#	Name	Births	vs 1896
1	Mary	13,413	—
2	Anna	5,429	—
3	Helen	4,519	—
4	Margaret	4,146	—
5	Ruth	3,878	—
6	Elizabeth	3,442	+1
7	Florence	3,369	+1
8	Ethel	3,182	-2
9	Marie	3,078	—
10	Emma	2,698	—
11	Lillian	2,683	—
12	Edna	2,567	+1
13	Bertha	2,502	+2
14	Grace	2,458	+3
15	Clara	2,454	-1
16	Alice	2,431	-4
17	Bessie	2,407	+1
18	Hazel	2,339	+4
19	Rose	2,316	+1
20	Annie	2,307	-1
21	Minnie	2,284	-5
22	Mabel	2,222	-1
23	Gertrude	2,135	—
24	Ida	2,108	—
25	Pearl	2,076	—
26	Martha	1,990	—
27	Frances	1,975	—
28	Esther	1,911	-1
29	Myrtle	1,833	+1
30	Edith	1,823	-1
31	Elsie	1,763	—
32	Gladys	1,737	+1
33	Mildred	1,723	+6
34	Sarah	1,713	+1
35	Eva	1,709	-3
36	Ella	1,708	—
37	Nellie	1,693	-3
38	Irene	1,587	+3
39	Laura	1,585	-2
40	Agnes	1,579	-2
41	Louise	1,563	+1
42	Catherine	1,511	-2
43	Dorothy	1,472	+3
44	Lillie	1,401	-1
45	Julia	1,380	-1
46	Carrie	1,365	-1
47	Josephine	1,267	+3
48	Hattie	1,251	-1
49	Cora	1,246	+3
50	Lena	1,239	-2
51	Alma	1,213	—
52	Jessie	1,191	+5
53	Mattie	1,181	-4
54	Mae	1,144	+1
55	Blanche	1,092	-1
56	Jennie	1,074	-3
57	Ruby	1,025	+9
58	Viola	1,017	+3
59	Mamie	1,006	-1
60	Marion	994	+7
61	Lucy	984	-2
61	Maude	984	-5
63	Lula	971	+1
64	Stella	966	-4
65	Katherine	962	-4
66	Ada	956	-3
66	Fannie	956	-1
68	Beatrice	942	+2
69	Dora	862	-1
70	Willie	818	+6
71	Nora	812	—
72	Pauline	777	+3
73	Vera	776	+8
74	Rosa	770	—
75	Maggie	760	-6
76	Sadie	757	-4
77	Ellen	733	-4
78	Marguerite	728	—
79	Effie	698	+1
80	Evelyn	690	+4
81	Beulah	688	-4
82	Lucille	648	+4
83	Lydia	642	+8
84	Virginia	638	+5
85	Susie	626	-6
86	Daisy	624	-3
86	Della	624	-1
88	Emily	619	+8
88	Leona	619	+6
90	Nettie	614	-3
91	May	595	-9
92	Olive	583	-2
93	Kathryn	570	-5
94	Hilda	561	+1
95	Eleanor	559	+7
96	Nancy	553	—
97	Ann	545	+8
97	Sallie	545	+4
99	Lizzie	543	+1
100	Theresa	533	+8

Rank, births, and the change in rank against 1896.
#	Name	Births	vs 1896
1	John	7,550	—
2	William	7,198	—
3	James	5,113	—
4	George	4,078	—
5	Charles	3,341	—
6	Joseph	2,827	—
7	Frank	2,726	—
8	Robert	2,701	—
9	Edward	2,121	—
10	Henry	1,994	—
11	Thomas	1,980	+1
12	Walter	1,895	+1
13	Harry	1,879	-2
14	Arthur	1,647	—
15	Albert	1,377	—
16	Fred	1,301	—
17	Clarence	1,201	—
18	Willie	1,151	—
19	Roy	999	—
20	Paul	923	—
21	Harold	860	+2
22	Raymond	837	+2
23	Louis	831	-1
24	Earl	829	-3
25	Carl	828	—
26	Joe	798	+1
27	Ernest	785	+2
28	Samuel	759	+3
29	David	730	-1
30	Charlie	714	+2
31	Richard	702	-5
32	Ralph	697	-2
33	Howard	634	—
34	Elmer	587	+2
35	Herbert	565	-1
36	Andrew	555	+1
37	Oscar	543	+3
38	Jesse	529	-3
39	Daniel	520	-1
40	Alfred	513	+2
41	Lawrence	505	+5
42	Jack	497	-2
43	Francis	496	-4
44	Will	491	—
45	Sam	478	-2
46	Leo	462	+1
47	Lee	453	+1
48	Floyd	451	+7
49	Eugene	447	-4
50	Herman	412	-1
51	Peter	397	+1
51	Ray	397	-1
53	Edwin	380	+6
54	Benjamin	378	-3
54	Lewis	378	+2
56	Frederick	369	+1
57	Michael	368	-4
58	Clyde	359	—
59	Claude	345	-5
60	Martin	312	+1
61	Leonard	310	-1
61	Lester	310	+4
63	Tom	298	-1
64	Russell	295	—
65	Ben	291	+4
65	Leroy	291	+7
67	Chester	290	-4
68	Clifford	285	-2
69	Edgar	278	-1
69	Homer	278	+10
71	Luther	271	+3
72	Harvey	268	-2
73	Eddie	263	+3
74	Lloyd	258	-7
75	Jim	252	-4
76	Anthony	249	-3
77	Stanley	240	+1
78	Bernard	234	+4
78	Jessie	234	+11
78	Otto	234	+2
81	Leon	229	+5
82	Allen	226	+9
83	Leslie	222	+2
84	Cecil	216	+13
85	Theodore	215	-3
86	Hugh	213	-11
87	Patrick	210	+6
88	Jacob	204	-6
89	Philip	200	+3
90	Ed	198	-9
91	Norman	197	+13
92	Donald	195	+2
92	Guy	195	-16
94	Stephen	194	+19
95	Archie	190	-7
95	Victor	190	+1
97	Alvin	186	+5
98	Percy	183	+18
99	Ira	180	+2
100	Everett	179	-10

Ranked by places gained against 1896, among names with at least 200 births in both years.

Name	Rank 1897	Rank 1896	Change
Thelma girls	117	167	+50
Genevieve girls	130	153	+23
Sophie girls	150	170	+20
Violet girls	119	135	+16
Irma girls	150	166	+16
Allie girls	169	185	+16
Marian girls	149	164	+15
Alberta girls	156	170	+14
Velma girls	160	174	+14
Freda girls	161	175	+14
Doris girls	139	152	+13
Cecil boys	84	97	+13
Lois girls	111	123	+12
Jessie boys	78	89	+11
Amelia girls	121	131	+10

Name	Rank 1897	Rank 1896	Change
Nannie girls	143	119	-24
Victoria girls	180	158	-22
Frieda girls	162	141	-21
Essie girls	145	126	-19
Harriet girls	128	110	-18
Rachel girls	154	137	-17
Mollie girls	143	127	-16
Estella girls	147	133	-14
Augusta girls	179	165	-14
Flossie girls	162	149	-13
Kate girls	167	154	-13
Naomi girls	176	163	-13
Hannah girls	158	146	-12
Luella girls	192	180	-12
Hugh boys	86	75	-11

1897 is the earliest year these names clear the SSA reporting threshold of five births.