Baby Name Tuesday: Week 6

Hey guys! The top winner on my poll (as of now) says the most liked BNT topic is a decade series! So, I'm going to start with the 1880s. Why? Because that is the first Social Security name list on the website. You can see the full list here.

For this decade series, each week I will talk about a new decade, some similarities of names then and now, favorite names, and/or least favorite names. It will be a whole lot of fun!

So the top ten names for boys and girls in the 1880s are as follows:

Girls

1. Mary
2. Anna
3. Emma
4. Elizabeth
5. Margaret 
6. Minnie 
7. Ida
8. Bertha
9. Clara
10. Alice

Boys

1. John
2. William
3. James
4. George
5. Charles 
6. Frank
7. Joseph
8. Henry
9. Thomas
10. Edward

If you look closely at each name list, you may recognize some names- either as kids in your class or as your grandparent's names! You may recognize some of the girls' names on the list from my vintage name post a few weeks ago. While Margaret, Elizabeth, and Mary are classics, Alice, Clara, and Emma are popular vintage names right now. Alice, Clara, and Emma dropped in the 1900s, but are rising very quickly as part of this vintage-names trend.

As for boys names, those on the list are classics- timeless and will always be popular. But some names, like Edward are falling (maybe it's the Twilight association?) and Henry (LOVE this name) is rising.

Some of my other favorite 1880s names not mentioned in list are Nina, Eva, Louis, and Harvey. What are yours?

But please, Bertha and Alva (yes, it's for a boy) don't ever come back into style!

Over and out,

~Margaux