Most popular baby names of 1893

Looking at the baby name ranking data from 1892 to 1893, we can observe some interesting shifts in naming preferences across the United States.

The top three names for both boys and girls remained remarkably stable during this period. For girls, Mary, Anna, and Elizabeth were the top three names in 1892, but in 1893, Ruth replaced Elizabeth in the third position, with Elizabeth dropping to fifth place. Meanwhile, the boys' top three names remained completely unchanged from 1892 to 1893, with John, William, and James maintaining their dominant positions at the top of the charts.

Among the top ten girls' names in 1893, several interesting movements can be observed. Helen climbed from ninth place in 1892 to sixth place in 1893, showing increasing popularity. Florence, which was sixth in 1892, slipped to seventh place in 1893. Emma moved down slightly from seventh to ninth, while Bertha remained steady at the tenth position. Traditional names continued to dominate the top rankings, suggesting parents were still strongly favoring classic feminine names over newer options.

The top ten boys' names in 1893 showed minimal changes from the previous year. The most significant shift was Edward moving up from eleventh place in 1892 to ninth in 1893. Harry dropped one spot from ninth to tenth place. Joseph moved up one position from seventh to sixth, while Frank dropped from sixth to seventh. Most notably, the stability of the top boys' names during this period reflects the strong cultural preference for traditional masculine names that had been popular for generations.

Looking at overall naming patterns, short, classic names continued to dominate for both genders. For girls, names ending in "-a" or "-ie" were particularly common, with Anna, Clara, Bertha, Minnie, and Bessie all appearing in the top fifteen. Names beginning with "M" were especially popular for girls, with Mary, Margaret, Minnie, Mabel, and Martha all ranking highly. For boys, biblical names maintained their strong presence with John, James, Joseph, and Thomas all in the top fifteen. Short, one or two-syllable masculine names seemed to be the overwhelming preference for boys during this period.

Top baby names of 1893