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Names

Most popular baby names of 1885 in England and Wales

In 1885, the most popular names in England and Wales were Mary for girls and John for boys. Here are the top 100, with how many babies got each name. The counts for England and Wales before 1996 come from a sample of local birth records, so they are much smaller than the real number of babies. The order is what matters.

← 18841886 →

Girls

  1. 1Mary11,737
  2. 2Elizabeth6,656
  3. 3Sarah5,531
  4. 4Annie4,767
  5. 5Alice4,280
  6. 6Margaret4,251
  7. 7Florence3,507
  8. 8Ellen3,136
  9. 9Edith3,132
  10. 10Jane2,558
  11. 11Ethel2,503
  12. 12Emily2,189
  13. 13Ada2,158
  14. 14Ann2,000
  15. 15Martha1,941
  16. 16Hannah1,604
  17. 17Lily1,490
  18. 18Emma1,474
  19. 19Gertrude1,472
  20. 20Eliza1,461
  21. 21Catherine1,442
  22. 22Beatrice1,378
  23. 23Clara1,349
  24. 24Bertha1,192
  25. 25Agnes1,184
  26. 26Harriet1,096
  27. 27Frances933
  28. 28Minnie918
  29. 29Maud889
  30. 30Louisa881
  31. 31Lilian862
  32. 32Lucy861
  33. 33Amy817
  34. 34Nellie797
  35. 35Mabel766
  36. 36Jessie728
  37. 37Fanny677
  38. 38Maria661
  39. 39Esther618
  40. 40Charlotte591
  41. 41May583
  42. 42Kate580
  43. 43Elsie578
  44. 44Eleanor554
  45. 45Isabella553
  46. 46Rose551
  47. 47Maggie469
  48. 48Amelia445
  49. 49Lizzie436
  50. 50Ruth419
  51. 51Hilda405
  52. 52Caroline398
  53. 53Eva398
  54. 54Laura381
  55. 55Winifred361
  56. 56Rachel352
  57. 57Susannah342
  58. 58Sydney324
  59. 59Betsy315
  60. 60Grace311
  61. 61Violet304
  62. 62Anne283
  63. 63Rebecca273
  64. 64Lydia266
  65. 65Dora258
  66. 66Dorothy257
  67. 67Phoebe252
  68. 68Selina237
  69. 69Eveline236
  70. 70Lillie234
  71. 71Matilda233
  72. 72Janet232
  73. 73Helen215
  74. 74Daisy214
  75. 75Bessie209
  76. 76Henrietta208
  77. 77Nancy197
  78. 78Leah196
  79. 79Gladys195
  80. 80Julia191
  81. 81Olive190
  82. 82Susan186
  83. 83Constance179
  84. 84Bridget173
  85. 85Nelly172
  86. 86Florrie171
  87. 87Rhoda165
  88. 88Bertie163
  89. 89Miriam163
  90. 90Marion157
  91. 91Lavinia142
  92. 92Helena139
  93. 93Sophia138
  94. 94Blanche135
  95. 95Theresa127
  96. 96Flora125
  97. 97Priscilla123
  98. 98Ida119
  99. 99Rosanna118
  100. 100Evelyn111

Boys

  1. 1John13,246
  2. 2William12,107
  3. 3Thomas7,555
  4. 4James7,458
  5. 5George6,098
  6. 6Joseph4,525
  7. 7Arthur3,628
  8. 8Charles3,365
  9. 9Robert3,185
  10. 10Albert2,740
  11. 11Harry2,701
  12. 12Henry2,661
  13. 13Edward2,388
  14. 14Herbert2,382
  15. 15Ernest2,336
  16. 16Frederick2,303
  17. 17Richard2,190
  18. 18Walter2,142
  19. 19Alfred2,114
  20. 20Samuel2,106
  21. 21Frank1,686
  22. 22Fred1,669
  23. 23Harold1,270
  24. 24David976
  25. 25Francis816
  26. 26Percy741
  27. 27Peter647
  28. 28Edwin615
  29. 29Benjamin612
  30. 30Tom554
  31. 31Leonard461
  32. 32Hugh434
  33. 33Daniel394
  34. 34Sidney306
  35. 35Alexander291
  36. 36Isaac287
  37. 37Michael284
  38. 38Wilfred253
  39. 39Ralph250
  40. 40Patrick240
  41. 41Owen239
  42. 42Edgar231
  43. 43Reginald231
  44. 44Christopher227
  45. 45Edmund222
  46. 46Wilfrid222
  47. 47Willie220
  48. 48Matthew209
  49. 49Evan203
  50. 50Horace200
  51. 51Andrew198
  52. 52Stephen191
  53. 53Abraham175
  54. 54Jesse170
  55. 55Gordon164
  56. 56Philip161
  57. 57Sam158
  58. 58Norman137
  59. 59Bernard136
  60. 60Archibald135
  61. 61Stanley135
  62. 62Lawrence134
  63. 63Enoch133
  64. 64Gilbert133
  65. 65Lewis129
  66. 66Bertram127
  67. 67Jonathan127
  68. 68Louis114
  69. 69Mark114
  70. 70Martin114
  71. 71Arnold112
  72. 72Cecil111
  73. 73Joshua111
  74. 74Hubert110
  75. 75Moses109
  76. 76Elijah104
  77. 77Joe95
  78. 78Rowland95
  79. 79Eli94
  80. 80Jacob93
  81. 81Josiah92
  82. 82Ellis91
  83. 83Oliver91
  84. 84Reuben91
  85. 85Oswald89
  86. 86Griffith87
  87. 87Percival87
  88. 88Clifford85
  89. 89Florry80
  90. 90Job77
  91. 91Cyril72
  92. 92Ben68
  93. 93Charlie66
  94. 94Levi65
  95. 95Morris65
  96. 96Allen62
  97. 97Amos61
  98. 98Gerald61
  99. 99Maurice61
  100. 100Louie60

Naming a character born in 1885?

Make character names from 1885

Where the counts come from: the US from Social Security card records from 1880 (names given to at least 5 babies in a year; years before about 1937 count fewer people, because the cards started then), and before 1880 from Douglas Galbi's tables of a census sample. England and Wales from the Office for National Statistics from 1996, and before that from Stephen Bush's study of local birth records, a sample of about 120,000 births a year (CC BY 4.0). Scotland from National Records of Scotland. Northern Ireland from NISRA. France from INSEE, first names and last names. Italy from ISTAT (CC BY 4.0), the top 50 names a year. Berlin from the city's open data (CC BY 3.0 DE), counting only the first of a child's names. UK figures are Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence. US last names from the 2020 census, and before 1850 from the 1790 census. Irish last names from Robert Matheson's report on the births of 1890. Italian last names from the City of Florence (CC BY 4.0). Norwegian last names from Statistics Norway (CC BY 4.0).

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