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Top 1900s Baby Names

The top baby names of the 1900s include some choices back in style (or even past their most recent peak), such as Lillian and Leo, Josephine and Jack. Others are still moored in that long-ago era, including Ethel and Elmer.

Along with Josephine and Leo, other 1900s baby names that are currently in the US Top 1000 include Elsie, George, Hazel, Leonard, Nellie, Oscar, Virginia, and Walter. In addition to Ethel, the names with the steepest drops in popularity include Bessie, Myrtle, Thelma, and Bertha.

While we may not be hearing many babies named Gertrude and Clarence soon, names such as Mabel and Florence, Henry and Arthur are very much back in style. Sourced from the Top 100 of the decade from 1900 to 1910, here is a list of popular baby names which are relatively rare today.

Clyde Clyde is traditionally a Scottish name for a...
Origin:Scottish river name
573
Elmer

Meaning: noble and renowned

Origin:English
1524
Earl Companion or Friend (Arabic), Warrior or Fig...
Origin:English aristocratic title
1605
Origin:German, diminutive of Frederick and Alfred
926
Herman

Meaning: soldier, warrior

Origin:German
1909
Thelma

Meaning: literary name

Origin:English
1491
Lester The meaning of Lester is from the English ci...
Origin:English place-name; phonetic form of Leicester
1730
Charlie

Meaning: free man

Origin:English, diminutive of Charles
179
Frances

Meaning: from France; free man

Origin:English from Latin
135
Frank

Meaning: Frenchman or free man

Origin:Diminutive of Francis or Franklin
273
James

Meaning: supplanter

Origin:English variation of Jacob, Hebrew
33
Beatrice

Meaning: she who brings happiness; blessed

Origin:Latin
36
Clara

Meaning: bright, clear

Origin:Latin
20
Josephine

Meaning: Jehovah increases

Origin:French feminine variation of Joseph
17
Alice

Meaning: noble

Origin:German
7
Margaret

Meaning: pearl

Origin:Greek
73
Catherine

Meaning: pure

Origin:Greek
183
Agnes

Meaning: pure, virginal

Origin:Greek
187
Helen

Meaning: torch; shining light

Origin:Greek
328
Mary

Meaning: drop of the sea, bitter, or beloved

Origin:Hebrew or Egyptian
202