Popular names in 1880: Top names of the 1880s

Posted on 2 сентября, 2023 by alexxlab

Top names of the 1880s

The following table shows the 200 most popular given names for male and female
babies born during the 1880s. For each rank and sex, the table shows
the name and the number of occurrences of that name. The 200 most popular names
were taken from a universe that includes 1,177,157 male births and
1,399,567 female births

Popular names of the period 1880s

Rank	Name	Number	Name	Number
	Males		Females
1	John	89,950	Mary	91,668
2	William	84,881	Anna	38,159
3	James	54,056	Emma	25,404
4	George	47,651	Elizabeth	25,006
5	Charles	46,656	Margaret	21,799
6	Frank	30,967	Minnie	21,724
7	Joseph	26,292	Ida	18,283
8	Henry	24,139	Bertha	18,263
9	Robert	24,074	Clara	17,717
10	Thomas	23,750	Alice	17,142
11	Edward	23,133	Annie	17,027
12	Harry	22,649	Florence	16,699
13	Walter	18,185	Bessie	15,373
14	Arthur	16,180	Grace	15,227
15	Fred	15,602	Ethel	14,866
16	Albert	14,375	Sarah	14,715
17	Samuel	9,129	Ella	13,936
18	Clarence	8,760	Martha	13,911
19	Louis	8,275	Nellie	13,761
20	David	7,569	Mabel	13,096
21	Joe	7,098	Laura	12,806
22	Charlie	7,091	Carrie	12,514
23	Richard	7,010	Cora	11,954
24	Ernest	6,700	Helen	11,496
25	Roy	6,565	Maude	11,454
26	Will	6,196	Lillian	11,270
27	Andrew	6,053	Gertrude	11,100
28	Jesse	6,003	Rose	11,064
29	Oscar	5,982	Edna	11,020
30	Willie	5,906	Pearl	10,903
31	Daniel	5,679	Edith	10,881
32	Benjamin	5,407	Jennie	10,220
33	Carl	5,227	Hattie	10,199
34	Sam	5,069	Mattie	9,844
35	Alfred	4,837	Eva	9,800
36	Earl	4,830	Julia	9,800
37	Peter	4,656	Myrtle	9,769
38	Elmer	4,627	Louise	9,596
39	Frederick	4,603	Lillie	9,467
40	Howard	4,349	Jessie	9,187
41	Lewis	4,341	Frances	9,182
42	Ralph	4,269	Catherine	8,915
43	Herbert	4,257	Lula	8,882
44	Paul	4,196	Lena	8,691
45	Lee	3,945	Marie	8,490
46	Tom	3,786	Ada	8,423
47	Herman	3,689	Josephine	7,732
48	Martin	3,595	Fannie	7,527
49	Jacob	3,566	Lucy	7,520
50	Michael	3,558	Dora	7,288
51	Jim	3,520	Agnes	7,237
52	Claude	3,504	Maggie	7,072
53	Ben	3,449	Blanche	6,925
54	Eugene	3,430	Katherine	6,922
55	Francis	3,244	Elsie	6,648
56	Grover	3,184	Nora	6,521
57	Raymond	3,135	Mamie	6,330
58	Harvey	3,123	Rosa	6,157
59	Clyde	3,034	Stella	6,130
60	Edwin	3,011	Daisy	6,054
61	Edgar	3,006	May	5,881
62	Ed	2,957	Effie	5,850
63	Lawrence	2,919	Mae	5,647
64	Bert	2,808	Ellen	5,402
65	Chester	2,699	Nettie	5,313
66	Jack	2,684	Ruth	5,298
67	Otto	2,679	Alma	5,190
68	Luther	2,619	Della	5,048
69	Charley	2,550	Lizzie	5,035
70	Guy	2,489	Sadie	4,915
71	Floyd	2,476	Sallie	4,840
72	Ira	2,379	Nancy	4,792
73	Ray	2,371	Susie	4,780
74	Hugh	2,355	Maud	4,201
75	Isaac	2,311	Flora	4,195
76	Oliver	2,287	Irene	4,002
77	Patrick	2,285	Etta	3,973
78	Homer	2,213	Katie	3,907
79	Theodore	2,176	Lydia	3,902
80	Leonard	2,144	Lottie	3,888
81	Leo	2,098	Viola	3,806
82	Alexander	2,081	Caroline	3,743
83	August	2,012	Addie	3,739
84	Harold	2,001	Hazel	3,644
85	Allen	1,998	Georgia	3,540
86	Jessie	1,843	Esther	3,476
87	Archie	1,816	Mollie	3,471
88	Philip	1,741	Olive	3,456
89	Stephen	1,684	Willie	3,397
90	Horace	1,650	Harriet	3,369
91	Marion	1,624	Emily	3,368
92	Bernard	1,616	Charlotte	3,311
93	Anthony	1,611	Amanda	3,280
94	Julius	1,605	Kathryn	3,276
95	Warren	1,580	Lulu	3,253
96	Leroy	1,574	Susan	3,231
97	Clifford	1,552	Kate	3,194
98	Eddie	1,526	Nannie	3,165
99	Sidney	1,505	Jane	2,971
100	Milton	1,479	Amelia	2,957
101	Leon	1,475	Virginia	2,948
102	Alex	1,451	Mildred	2,919
103	Lester	1,440	Beulah	2,866
104	Emil	1,434	Eliza	2,851
105	Dan	1,402	Rebecca	2,849
106	Willis	1,388	Ollie	2,832
107	Everett	1,374	Belle	2,648
108	Dave	1,339	Ruby	2,603
109	Leslie	1,292	Pauline	2,594
110	Rufus	1,283	Matilda	2,533
111	Alvin	1,256	Theresa	2,505
112	Perry	1,255	Hannah	2,480
113	Lloyd	1,254	Henrietta	2,480
114	Victor	1,242	Ora	2,391
115	Calvin	1,236	Estella	2,321
116	Harrison	1,235	Leona	2,151
117	Norman	1,235	Augusta	2,145
118	Wesley	1,186	Eleanor	2,136
119	Jess	1,182	Rachel	2,128
120	Percy	1,166	Amy	2,127
121	Amos	1,161	Sara	2,127
122	Dennis	1,107	Anne	2,126
123	Jerry	1,106	Marion	2,109
124	Nathan	1,106	Iva	2,108
125	Franklin	1,098	Ann	2,104
126	Alonzo	1,088	Nina	2,093
127	Matthew	1,068	Dorothy	2,088
128	Mack	1,062	Lola	2,054
129	Earnest	1,043	Lela	1,915
130	Gus	1,029	Beatrice	1,900
131	Russell	1,023	Josie	1,884
132	Adam	1,020	Sophia	1,865
133	Jay	1,016	Estelle	1,841
134	Wallace	1,009	Mayme	1,841
135	Otis	1,006	Barbara	1,820
136	Stanley	997	Evelyn	1,817
137	Adolph	994	Maria	1,732
138	Jake	972	Inez	1,633
139	Roscoe	969	Allie	1,606
140	Maurice	961	Essie	1,554
141	Melvin	960	Delia	1,546
142	Gilbert	957	Mable	1,544
143	Ross	951	Millie	1,527
144	Willard	939	Alta	1,523
145	Mark	928	Betty	1,519
146	Levi	927	Callie	1,515
147	Wilbur	914	Janie	1,491
148	Cornelius	911	Rosie	1,485
149	Aaron	910	Victoria	1,440
150	Jose	910	Ola	1,421
151	Elbert	905	Gladys	1,420
152	Emmett	901	Louisa	1,420
153	Phillip	898	Ina	1,406
154	Morris	895	Eula	1,396
155	Noah	895	Luella	1,384
156	Claud	881	Vera	1,365
157	Clinton	867	Lou	1,364
158	Felix	863	Celia	1,363
159	Moses	859	Nell	1,345
160	Elijah	856	Goldie	1,327
161	Nelson	849	Winifred	1,309
162	Simon	841	Bettie	1,298
163	Lonnie	832	Hilda	1,280
164	Virgil	827	Sophie	1,267
165	Hiram	825	Christine	1,266
166	Jasper	820	Marguerite	1,256
167	Marshall	804	Tillie	1,254
168	Manuel	802	Birdie	1,237
169	Sylvester	796	Rena	1,219
170	Fredrick	783	Eunice	1,216
171	Mike	779	Bertie	1,153
172	Abraham	776	Olga	1,116
173	Silas	775	Sylvia	1,109
174	Irvin	770	Lucille	1,108
175	Max	765	Bess	1,099
176	Owen	758	Isabelle	1,092
177	Christopher	752	Genevieve	1,088
178	Reuben	742	Leila	1,079
179	Glenn	731	Mathilda	1,065
180	Nicholas	730	Dollie	1,063
181	Ellis	728	Isabel	1,053
182	Marvin	726	Verna	1,052
183	Wiley	726	Bernice	1,037
184	Eli	721	Loretta	1,036
185	Edmund	708	Rhoda	1,024
186	Ollie	706	Cornelia	1,020
187	Cecil	705	Sally	1,010
188	Cleveland	702	Jean	1,000
189	Curtis	695	Alberta	992
190	Timothy	693	Winnie	989
191	Harley	685	Lelia	987
192	Jeff	685	Lois	954
193	Anton	674	Myra	953
194	Alva	663	Harriett	938
195	Wilson	660	Roxie	933
196	Irving	654	Adeline	932
197	Clayton	653	Abbie	929
198	Rudolph	652	Flossie	924
199	Vernon	636	Sue	918
200	Hubert	634	Christina	916
	Source: 100% sample based on Social Security card application data as of of March 2023. See the limitations of this data source.

Top 100 Baby Names for the 1880s

The name you give your child is a special gift. It reflects what you value and what the world is like around you. You can see this when you step back and take a look at popular names from the 1880s. It’s been a long time since this decade; will you be able to predict what the top names were?

Boys Names From the 1880s

John was the number one choice for little boys born between 1 January 1880 and 31 December 1889. Mary was the top choice for girls in the 1880s. Both are simple and traditional.

John has retained some of its popularity, ranking 26th in 2023. But, Mary has fallen to the 330th place.

Presidential Namesakes

Five men held the office of President of the United States back in the 1880s: Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Chester A. Arthur, Grover Cleveland, and Benjamin Harrison.

Unfortunately, Rutherford never broke into the top 100. The rest, however, held their own among 1880s boy names. James sits at number three. Grover was number 56. Benjamin takes the 32nd spot, while its shortened version, Ben, grabs 53.

Now, Chester A. Arthur takes two different spots. Chester ranks #65, while Arthur takes #14.

Top 100 Baby Boy Names From the 1880s

John
William
James
George
Charles
Frank
Joseph
Henry
Robert
Thomas
Edward
Harry
Walter
Arthur
Fred
Albert
Samuel
Clarence
Louis
David
Joe
Charlie
Richard
Ernest
Roy
Will
Andrew
Jesse
Oscar
Willie
Daniel
Benjamin
Carl
Sam
Alfred
Earl
Peter
Elmer
Frederick
Howard
Lewis
Ralph
Herbert
Paul
Lee
Tom
Herman
Martin
Jacob
Michael
Jim
Claude
Ben
Eugene
Francis
Grover
Raymond
Harvey
Clyde
Edwin
Edgar
Ed
Lawrence
Bert
Chester
Jack
Otto
Luther
Charlie
Guy
Floyd
Ira
Ray
Hugh
Isaac
Oliver
Patrick
Homer
Theodore
Leonard
Leo
Alexander
August
Harold
Allen
Jessie
Archie
Philip
Stephen
Horace
Marion
Bernard
Anthony
Julius
Warren
Leroy
Clifford
Eddie
Sidney
Milton

Some Girls’ Names Are More Popular Now Than They Were in the 1880s

Girls’ names tend to be more trendy than boys. Yet, some 1880s baby names for girls are even more popular these days than they were then. Back in the 1880s, Charlotte was down at 92nd. These days, it’s number six.

Amelia held the number 100 spot back in the 1880s. Amelia holds the #7 position today.

Invention Was a Way of Life the 1880s

The start of the 1880s saw the issue of a key patent. Thomas (#10) Edison received US Patent 223898 on January 27, 1880. It was a patent title simply: Electric Lamp. While Edison didn’t invent electric lighting, his innovations created a reliable, long-term source of artificial light.

Henry (#8) W. Seeley patented the first electric clothes iron in 1882. May 1886 saw the invention of Coca Cola by John Pemberton.

Josephine (#47) Garis Cochrane invented the first commercially successful automatic dishwasher. She received the patent on December 28, 1886.

In 1884, George (#4) Eastman developed roll film that made portable cameras practical. Eastman also patented a portable camera, known as the Kodak Black, in 1888.

Ladies Leading the Way

The 1880s was a time many women were starting to break out of traditional roles. For example, Annie (#11) Smith Peck started her mountaineering career by climbing California’s Mt. Shasta in 1888.

It was a time of tragedy and triumph. Mary Harris Jones, known as Mother Jones, started her career in organized labor in the 1880s, after losing her husband and four children to yellow fever. Science was becoming a practical concern. Ellen (#64) Swallow Richards built her career as an industrial and safety engineer, environmental chemist, and university faculty member during the 1880s and beyond.

Top 100 Baby Girl Names From the 1880s

Mary
Anna
Emma
Elizabeth
Margaret
Minnie
Ida
Bertha
Clara
Alice
Annie
Florence
Bessie
Grace
Ethel
Sarah
Ella
Martha
Nellie
Mabel
Laura
Carrie
Cora
Helen
Maude
Lillian
Gertrude
Rose
Edna
Pearl
Edith
Jennie
Hattie
Mattie
Eva
Julia
Myrtle
Louise
Lillie
Jessie
Frances
Catherine
Lula
Lena
Marie
Ada
Josephine
Fanny
Lucy
Dora
Agnes
Maggie
Blanche
Katherine
Elsie
Nora
Mamie
Rosa
Stella
Daisy
May
Effie
Mae
Ellen
Nettie
Ruth
Alma
Della
Lizzie
Sadie
Sally
Nancy
Suzie
Maud
Flora
Irene
Etta
Katie
Lydia
Lottie
Viola
Caroline
Addie
Hazel
Georgia
Esther
Mollie
Olive
Willie
Harriet
Emily
Charlotte
Amanda
Kathryn
Lulu
Susan
Kate
Nanny
Jane
Amelia

Which 1880s names do you think would be a great moniker for a baby born today?

©Photo by Boston Public Library on Unsplash – License

Are Popular 1880s Names Still Popular Today?

It’s been a long time since the 1880s! You might be wondering how the top five most popular boy and girl names in the 1880s fair today. Let’s take a look.

The top five most popular baby boy names in the 1880s were John, William, James, George, and Charles. John enjoys a spot in the Top 50 today, at number 40. William and James both sit in the Top 25, with William at 12 and James at nine. George is much less popular, ranking at 262 in 2023. Charles remains in the Top 100 at 84; its popularity may increase now that King Charles has been crowned.

The top five most popular baby girl names in the 1880s were Mary, Anna, Emma, Elizabeth, and Margaret. Mary isn’t quite as popular today, ranking at just 330. Anna fairs somewhat better on the popularity list, at 220. Emma remains extraordinarily popular in 2023 at number five. Elizabeth doesn’t quite make the Top 50 at number 57. Finally, Margaret about equals Mary in popularity at spot 312.

If you want an uncommon name for your child that was popular in this decade, try George, Mary, Anna, or Margaret.

Top 100 Baby Names by Decade

The most popular names in the USSR and the Russian Federation

The name is an integral part of any person, and that there is no personality without a name, Homer wrote back in antiquity. A person’s attitude to names, the popularity of some and the oblivion of others are a marker of social trends and a characteristic feature of each era and historical period. What were the preferences of our compatriots over the last century?

1920s

Stormy events 1917 years radically changed the foundations of the Russian state, its political goals and objectives. Instead of a monarchy, a dictatorship of the proletariat arose; instead of the defense of Orthodoxy, a worldwide revolution of workers and peasants arose. Of course, the general turbulence could not but affect the fashion for names. Hundreds of «revolutionary» names appeared, which were full of tear-off calendars from the time of the NEP: from Bebelina and Brutus to Engelsina and Roentgen. But the analysis of the naming of the 1920s. shows that none of them received wide recognition: the most popular remained, with a few exceptions, the names of the saints.

However, the top ten men’s names have changed by half compared to the pre-revolutionary era, and women’s — by a third. For the 1920s there was a peak in the change of names by adults from “obsolete” to “modern”. Women massively refused to be called Matryona, Thekla, Agafya, Evdokia in favor of Galina, Nina and Valentina. It was the ending with “-ina” — Antonina, Nina, Galina, Valentina, etc. — that became very popular. Ekaterina, one of the most common names before the revolution, did not fit into this trend. It abruptly lost its position and its “return to trends” occurred only during the Brezhnev “stagnation”. In addition, a notable success in 1920s accompanied the name Tamara — neither before nor after it caused such a stir. Many Viktors, Evgenievs and Anatolievs appeared among the men.

«Urban» top 5 male names of the 1920s: Vladimir, Nikolai, Viktor, Alexander, Boris.

«Urban» top 5 female names of the 1920s: Valentina, Nina, Vera, Tamara, Galina and Lydia.

The given data are summarized according to the works of researchers of onomastics (a set of names) of the Soviet period and according to information on the registration of newborns in registry offices — for the post-Soviet decades. Unfortunately, all kinds of infographics are circulating on the net without links to sources, but “with the involvement of artificial intelligence”, citing unconfirmed and even deliberately false information.

Our data is limited to the «urban top», ie. sampling for some metropolitan areas and regional centers. Alas, we have to state that, with extensive archival funds and relevant specialists, there is still no single research base for the study of the names of the past.

1930s

In the 1930s urban «novelties» of the last decade penetrated the village and displaced Marius and Ann, who had dominated here for centuries. At the same time, the invention of «revolutionary» names subsided. As one of the largest Soviet specialists in onomastics V.A. Nikonov, at 1930s the Soviet name book has been significantly updated and has become «calm». He abandoned pretentious and superficial innovations. At the same time, a certain interest arose in the names that were then perceived as “foreign”: the fashion for the names Eduard, Robert, Albert, Zhanna, Irma, Inga, etc. came to large cities, but none of them was ever included in the top ten .

In the 1930s for the first time, many fell in love with the name Svetlana — it stayed in the top ten for about half a century, until the middle of the 1980s The history of the name is unique: it was born as a figment of the imagination of professor-philologist A.Kh. Vostokov and the poet V.A. Zhukovsky and for a long time remained an exclusively literary phenomenon. The unexpected popularity of the beautiful name even forced the Orthodox Church to find a corresponding place in the calendar: in baptism, Svetlana became Fotinya, which in Greek means the same thing — “bright”. Among male names in the 1930s. the rapid rise of the name Yuri is noticeable. It was then that the most famous bearer of the name in the USSR was born — the first cosmonaut of the Earth Yu.A. Gagarin.

«Urban» top 5 male names of the 1930s: Vladimir, Yuri, Anatoly, Viktor, Nikolai.

«Urban» top 5 female names of the 1930s: Valentina, Galina, Lyudmila, Nina, Tatyana.

1940s

In the 1940s the name Valery, which was almost never used before, received wide circulation. Many associate his popularity with the personality of the hero of record flights V.P. Chkalov, but the euphony of the name itself was no less important. If the legendary test pilot had a more sophisticated and less sonorous name, it is unlikely that it has become so popular among young parents.

In the women’s ranking of the 1940s. there have been significant changes: Tatiana became the most popular name of the decade. It was then that the names Natalya, Olga, Irina came into fashion for a long time, and the leaders of the pre-war period Nina, Valentina and Galina noticeably lost ground.

«Urban» top 5 male names of the 1940s: Vladimir, Alexander, Viktor, Yuri, Anatoly.

«Urban» top 5 female names of the 1940s: Tatyana, Natalia, Galina, Lyudmila, Olga.

1950s

The leaders of the decade were renewed in the 1950s. Elena took the place of Tatyana, Alexander replaced Vladimir. The last name had a long glorious history stretching from antiquity. In Russia, Prince Alexander Nevsky and Generalissimo Alexander Suvorov gave him a special halo, and three emperors of the 19th century endowed him with high prestige. In popular pronunciation, the name turned out to be extremely variable.

Without knowing the invoice, it is difficult to guess that Shurik and Alexander are the same name that has gone through a long chain of transformations: Alexander — Aleksashka — Sasha — Sashura — Shura — Shurik. No less noble was the name Helena, known since the time of the Trojan War. The diminutive «Alyonushka» from its colloquial variant Alyona turned out to be extremely common in Russian folk tales.

«Urban» top 5 male names of the 1950s: Alexander, Sergei, Vladimir, Victor, Nikolai.

«Urban» top 5 female names of the 1950s: Elena, Tatiana, Irina, Natalia, Olga.

1960s

Among the trends of the 1960s — the appearance at the top of the list of male names Oleg and Igor for boys, Marina and Oksana for girls. The top three positions in the top five male names remained unchanged, but the fourth and fifth positions were changed. Andrei began to “gain weight” from the end of 19In the 50s, Yuri returned to popularity and increased dramatically after April 12, 1961 after the fantastic success of the first cosmonaut.

The name «Yuri», derived from the ancient Greek «George», entered the Russian onomasticon with the adoption of Christianity in Rus’. Due to the phonetic structure of the language, the initial soft “G” turned into “Gyurgi”, and then into “Yuri”, or into the chain Yegorgiy — Yegory — Yegor. At the same time, the name Yuri was considered a noble form of the name George, and Yegor — a peasant one. Before the revolution, both forms were considered interchangeable, and a person could be called George according to documents, but Yuri or Yegor in everyday life. After the establishment of Soviet power, variations began to be considered as separate names, and therefore no one will now name cosmonaut Yu. A. Gagarin Georgy, and Marshal G.K. Zhukov — Egor. It is worth noting that the variability of the name is very high all over the world, and the completely different sounding English George, Polish Jerzy, French George, Czech Jiri, Hungarian György or Spanish Jorge all come from the same George.

«Urban» top 5 male names of the 1960s: Alexander, Sergey, Vladimir, Andrey, Yuri.

«Urban» top 5 female names of the 1960s: Tatiana, Elena, Olga and Natalia, Irina.

1970s

In the 1970s Alexander and Sergey, Elena and Natalya competed with each other. In some years, one or the other took precedence, but at the end of the decade, the leaders still remained the same. It is curious that among the newborns there were many Alekseev and Andreev, consonant with Alexander. For the first time since the beginning of the 20th century, Dmitry appeared in the top ten, and the fashion for this name still holds. Also at 1970s the renaissance survived Konstantin, but, unlike Dmitry, it was very short — soon his popularity went down.

Among the female names, it is worth noting the return of Anna. The most popular, along with Mary, name of the 19th century has again become relevant since the late 1960s. Like Dmitry, Anna continues to be on the top lines today. This extremely ancient female name is found in the Bible, and in the form of «Khan» goes back to the most ancient languages of the Middle East.

The emergence of the popularity of the name Yuli in the late USSR, which lasted until the end of the millennium, is not easy to explain. Once it had a limited circulation in aristocratic circles, but did not exist among the peasantry. The best version can be considered that this beautiful name corresponded to the aesthetic needs of the era.

«Urban» top 5 male names of the 1970s: Alexander, Sergey, Alexey, Andrey, Dmitry.

«Urban» top 5 female names of the 1970s: Elena, Natalia, Olga, Anna, Yulia.

1980s

In the 1980s The top lines in the popularity of male names have not changed compared to the previous decade, but Denis and Roman appeared in the men’s top ten, and Ekaterina stood out in the women’s list with a sharp rise. In 1990, this name will even come out on top. 1980s also marked by the “return from non-existence” of the name Daria, which for almost a century and a half was not among the most popular.

As for the name «Catherine», it, having come to Rus’ from Ancient Greece along with baptism, remained unclaimed until the beginning of the 18th century, when it gradually came into use. Throughout the 19th century, it was among the most common, but it lost a lot of popularity after the October Revolution. Surprisingly, not everyone’s favorite hit M.A. Blanter and M.V. Isakovsky, written in 1938, nor the legendary rocket artillery system «Katyusha» did not give a big increase in popularity to this name, and only from the beginning of 1970s it has regained its place under the sun.

«Urban» top 5 male names of the 1980s: Alexander, Sergey, Alexey, Andrey, Dmitry.

«Urban» top 5 female names of the 1980s: Elena, Anna, Ekaterina, Natalia, Olga.

1990s

The last decade of the 20th century is remembered for the phenomenal boom in the name of Anastasia. The trajectory of its frequency is similar to that of Catherine: steady popularity in the 19th century, failure after the revolution, revival in the 19th century.70s In the 1990s for the first time, high places were occupied by the female names Victoria and Polina, Elena and Olga lost their popularity very much.

Names ending in a vowel went up in the men’s rating — Ilya, Nikita, Danila, the old name Ivan reasserted itself, but the most common names of the previous decade continued to hold the top lines.

«Urban» top 5 male names of the 1990s: Alexander, Dmitry, Andrey, Alexey, Sergey.

«Urban» top 5 female names 1990s: Anastasia, Anna, Maria, Ekaterina, Daria.

2000s

The new century has brought new trends in male naming. Names that had been under wraps for decades began to come into fashion. Kirill, Egor, Pyotr and Danila were again in the spotlight, and Nikita, Artyom and Maxim became the absolute leaders. The update of male names in the top of the decade, which occurred in the 2000s, turned out to be the most dramatic in 100 years. It was the result of a change in priorities from tradition to novelty, which consisted in bringing to light rare and old, but necessarily euphonious names, and not inventing new ones, as was the case in 1920s

It is curious that Soviet specialists in onomastics previously predicted a “silent death” for male names ending in “-a”, explaining this by aesthetic and phonetic reasons, but life once again refuted the most harmonious theories of scientists. It is believed that the fashion for the name Danila was introduced by the cult action movie of the 1990s. “Brother”, but in reality this is a more general phenomenon — namely, a request for a change in names that happens about once a generation, or 25-30 years. In female names in the 2000s. Anastasia continued to reign, but interest in the names Sophia, Polina and Xenia grew noticeably.

«Urban» top 5 male names of the 2000s: Danila, Alexander, Ivan, Nikita, Maxim and Artyom.

«Urban» top 5 female names of the 2000s: Anastasia, Maria, Daria, Anna, Sophia.

2010s

Among the innovations of the decade, let’s mention the popularity of the names Leo and Mark among boys, Eva and Varvara among girls. With the exception of Varvara, popular in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, these names were never among the common ones. Of course, the name Leo can boast of the great writer L.N. Tolstoy, and in Soviet times — the famous football goalkeeper L.I. Yashin and popular pop singer L.V. Leshchenko, but until the 2010s. it has never been in the top ten.

The name Eve was included in the calendar in 2000, and now has the status of a completely canonical Orthodox, but its success, like the success of the name Mark, is not entirely clear. Then, to the delight of admirers of traditions, a century later, Maria and Anna returned to the highest positions among female names.

«Urban» top 5 male names of the 2010s: Alexander, Maxim, Artyom, Mikhail, Ivan.

«Urban» top 5 female names of the 2010s: Maria, Anna, Sophia, Anastasia and Victoria, Polina.

2020s

The third decade of the 21st century began quite recently, but was immediately marked by large-scale upheavals: the coronavirus pandemic, an acute political crisis and large-scale military operations. Whether this will somehow affect the trends of the decade in naming is too early to say. We only note that the names Alice, Vasilisa, Arina and Veronica are gaining popularity among girls, and among boys — Matvey, Miron and Timofey.

«Urban» top 5 male names of the 2020s: Alexander, Mikhail, Maxim, Artyom, Lev.

Urban top 5 female names of the 2020s: Sofia, Maria, Anna, Alice, Victoria and Eva.

Results for 100 years

If we summarize the statistics for 100 years, we can see that the top ten for this period included 39 male and 40 female names. It is clearly seen that even the most fashionable names after a few decades are losing popularity — such as Valentina, Natalya or Tatyana, Valery, Sergey or Yuri. The only exception is Alexander — the name has never fallen out of the top ten and still remains among the most popular.

For girls, Tatyana remained the most stable name for a long time, but in the 21st century its popularity has declined sharply. Below are lists of the most popular names over the past hundred years (in descending order).

«Urban» top 10 male names of the 1920s — 2020s: Alexander, Sergey, Vladimir, Dmitry, Andrey, Mikhail, Alexei, Maxim, Victor, Nikolai.

«Urban» top 10 female names of the 1920s — 2020s: Maria, Anna, Elena, Natalia, Tatyana, Olga, Galina, Sophia, Ekaterina, Irina.

English names, history of origin, list of modern names

To the list of English names

The English system of names differs in many respects from the system familiar to Russian people:

The full name in English-speaking countries consists of the first name, middle name and surname, there is no patronymic.
As names, both first and second, one can meet not only common and traditional names, but also surnames.
The names of celebrities or relatives, as well as prominent historical characters, are often taken as such surnames.

Personal English names accepted today are very diverse. They include groups of ancient and new names:

traditional English names (Celtic, Scottish),
Germanic and Norman names,
names borrowed from other languages (Christian, Arabic),
made up names,
short names that have become independent.

Modern English names can differ greatly from each other in structural and semantic features. The reason for this diversity of names is that the population of Great Britain is a product of a mixture of various ethnic groups: the Iberian population who lived here in antiquity, the Celtic tribes, the Angles, Saxons, Scandinavians, and then the Franco-Normans.

Due to this, for example, in England, the male name Abraham, which appeared at least 4000 years ago and is common in English-speaking countries, and the female name Sonya, which came from the Russian language only in the 20s of the 20th century, coexist.

Beautiful English names

History and origin of English names

Simple and two-component names. Like all ancient Germanic names, the Anglo-Saxons had only one name, which could be either simple in structure (Froda — «wise, old» or Hwita — «white»), or complex (Aethel-Beald — «noble, excellent, excellent + bold, courage» or Eadgar — «possession, property, property, rich + spear»). Gradually, simple names were replaced by two-component names. The meaning of a number of Old English names cannot be deduced from the meanings of their constituent components. Other names are more understandable to the modern reader.

The components of Anglo-Saxon names were taken from a special set of nominal words. It was believed that benevolent nominal words magically give their wearer patronage, wealth, health, and so on. These words included words denoting «warrior», «gift», «good», «famous» and so on. So the names Edwin, Edmund, Elmer, Meredith appeared. A number of names were compiled with the participation of components of the parents’ names.

Anglo-Saxon names could hardly be separated from the nicknames given to people. The suffix -ing, common for common Germanic names, was often used in the names, indicating that the carrier is a descendant of the one indicated in the rest of the name. For example, Bruning is «son of Brun». Today, only 8% of the total number of English names are from the names of the ancient Anglo-Saxon period.

Old English female names did not differ in structure and semantic features from male names. The second component in the name was an indicator of the gender. In male names, this component was represented by masculine nouns, and in female names it was represented by feminine nouns, respectively.

Adjectives could also be used as second components. In male names, adjectives could indicate the social position or character traits of the bearer of the name. In female names, the most common adjective used as the second component is «leof», meaning «beloved, dear, pleasant».

Norman influence. The invasion of England by the Normans greatly influenced the development of the English people, including the traditions of name formation. After William, Duke of Normandy, was proclaimed King of England, the highest civil and ecclesiastical positions were filled by people who spoke Norman French. As a result, Anglo-Saxon names began to be replaced by names traditional for the conquerors (for example, William, Robert, Richard and others). As a result, only a few Anglo-Saxon names survived, such as Edgar, Edward, Mildred and others. Also, the period following the conquest of England by the Normans was marked by a trend towards the transition of nicknames into family names.

Christian names among the English. Also, the influence of the Christian religion, the rapid spread of which began in the 12th century, when the missionaries of the Pope began to arrive in England, significantly contributed to the displacement of the old Anglo-Saxon names. Church schools and monasteries began to open, which became the center for the spread of Christian culture. Biblical names, incomprehensible to the bulk of the population, were added to the set of personal names. The main distribution of biblical names was received among the royal family and the highest nobility, and representatives of the lower strata of the population were called pagan names for a long time.

It was not until the 16th century that Christian canonical names came to dominate the system of English personal names after the country introduced compulsory registration of infants who received a name at baptism. Church names were somewhat modified under the influence of folk traditions. So, Mary became Mary, and the name Jones with derivatives John, Jan and others, came from the Hebrew name Yohanan. The female name John came from the old French form of the name Jeanne and gave, in turn, three independent names — Jean, Joan and Jane.

90 215 Mabel

902 15 Mod

Christian	English female name
Alexandra	Sandra
Amabilis
Anna	Nancy, Anissa
Eva	Eve, Iva
Elizabeth	Betty
John	Jean, Joan, Jane, Jenna
Carolina	Carol, Charla, Charlotte that
Magdalena	Madeline, Magda, Maudlin
Maria	Mary
Matilda
Pavlina	Polina, Polin
Susanna	Susan

90 215 Oscar

Christian	English male name
Albuin	Alvin
Anscharius
Wilhelm	William
Jeremiah	Jeremy
Jerome	Jer om
John	John, Jones, Jack, James, Joe
Joseph	Joseph
Isaac	Isaac
Karl	Charles
Matthew	Matthew
Pavel	Gender

Popular English names at various times

The most common names in 16th-18th century England were the male names William, John, Thomas and the female names Elizabeth and Mary. The concentration of names has increased significantly. In official documents, it was now necessary to indicate only the name that was given at baptism, and from the 18th century, the surname inherited from the father became the official surname.

During the Reformation, which unfolded in the countries of Western Europe in the 16th century, non-biblical names of saints, such as Agnes, Barbara, Christopher and others, became unpopular. At the same time, the names mentioned in the Old Testament, for example, Amos, Benjamin, Elijah, Sarah, Joseph and others, became widespread. Also, the set of names of that time was replenished with the “virtuous” names Charity, Faith, Hope, Prudence, etc. (there are similar names in Russian — Vera, Nadezhda, Lyubov). There were also Puritans who had enough in the name-creation over the edge. Children were called names like Everlasting-Mercy (Infinite-Mercy) or Faith-My-Joy (Faith-My-Joy). Subsequently, people who were given such names tried to reduce them to consonant traditional names.

In the first half of the 17th century, the Puritans, among whom the biblical names from the Old Testament were common, were forced to emigrate to the English colonies located in North America. Thus, the group of Old Testament names is more common today in the USA than in England.

Modern English names

English literature has had a significant influence on the development of the English naming system. Famous English and American writers and poets created a whole range of characters and literary types whose names became popular among the British and Americans for many years. Until today, the names invented by writers remain popular. For example, Pamella is a character in Sydney’s novel Arcadia, Stela is the heroine of the cycle of sonnets by the same author. The historical novels of Walter Scott gave a second life to many forgotten names, and the name Alice (Alice) became popular for a long time after the publication of the famous fairy tales of Lewis Carroll.

Double names. Naming children by double names became popular in the 17th and 18th centuries. At that time, female double names, such as Mary Ann or Sarah Jane, were considered as one personal name, and a number of modern personal names were created precisely by combining parts of two names, such as Anella.

All of the above applies primarily to official, full names adopted for naming persons in documents or when addressing persons in a solemn atmosphere. Most full names have derived forms (derivatives) used among friends, relatives and relatives. The number of derived names cannot be precisely counted. A large number of derivatives are created by contraction (for example, Ben — Benjamin) or with the help of affix word formation (for example, Jimmy — James).

Short forms. Abbreviated names were also common among the Anglo-Saxons. For example, the name Ed (Eda) is an abbreviated form of the name Edwin (Edwine). Along with the conquest of England by the Normans, Old French diminutive suffixes appeared in the English language. For example, Hamelet is a diminutive of Hamon (d). At the same time, the English suffixes -cock and -kin began to be used to form derivative names. These suffixes can now be found in surnames that arose during that period (for example, Babcock from the diminutive form of Bab of the name Barbara). Since the 15th century, diminutive and affectionate names began to be formed using the suffixes -ie and -y (for example, Betty is an affectionate name from Elizabeth).

Modern English personal names are replenished to a large extent through the use of family names. This naming practice dates back to the 17th century, when it was common among aristocratic families. Such names were the names of Shirley, Bradley, Grant, Hamilton and others.

Today the registration legislation is very liberal. A child can be officially registered under a nickname, and even use almost any word. The number of names is also unlimited. Most people limit themselves to two or three names, but there are also names consisting of a very large number of words.