It is a truth universally acknowledged, that the name data for England and Wales is somewhat on the sparse side. These days we are given full listings for every name given to three babies or more each year — but this has only been the case since 1996. Before that the official statistics only provide us with one Top 100 list for 1904, 1914, 1924, 1934, 1944, 1954, 1964, 1974, 1984 and 1994.
My long-term aim has been to compile more complete rankings for the 19th century. Starting with the year 1900 (I shall be working backwards) I have been busy ranking all the names from the original scanned pages from the England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915 for that year.
.
It should be noted that the data is not without its flaws. Births were originally recorded by a registrar (in their own handwriting) which were later typed up into the register. Some names are invariably recorded incorrectly but in most cases they are easy to identify. I found one Gwenlliam, for example, which is clearly meant to be Gwenllian. It is impossible to know where the mistake was made. Did the registrar mishear the parents? Was their handwriting misread? Or did the typist make a typo? We'll never know, but we can see that there were many opportunities for human error. On the whole, however, this does not affect the rankings a great deal.
.
The Top 200 names in England and Wales in 1900:
.
|
|
.
|
|
|
Statistics compiled by Eleanor Nickerson at britishbabynames.com
No unauthorised copying without credit or permission.
.
Much like today, there was a greater number of individual names given to girls than boys. Just over 22,000 girls were given the most popular name Mary; half the number of the almost 55,000 boys who were given the most popular boys' name, William. The same was true of the second most popular names: 18,000 girls were named Florence; 38,000 were named John.
The year 1900 saw many interesting cultural and political events, many of which had a notable effect on the choice of names parents chose that year. The Boer War was in progress that year and its impact on nomenclature is very apparent. Many of the battle names (Mafeking, Bloemfontien, Colenso, Tugela, Ladysmith, Paardeburg, Transvaal, Glencoe, Kimberley) and word names (Peace, Surrender) were give as middle names. Notable military heroes and leaders also provided name inspiration.
Victoria (#88) — Victoria was at a peak in 1900, when it was given to 800 babies. Despite being the name of the monarch, it was not especially high ranking during the 19th century, except at notable points. In 1885, for example, it was only given to 100 babies. The count in 1895 was 163, and 397 in 1899. The name, however, was popular in 1897 (the year of the Diamond Jubilee) and 1901 (the year of the queen's death). The most likely explanation for this peak in the name is the patriotism created by the Boer War, especially given that many of the Victorias born that year had "battle" middle names -- Mafeking, Ladysmith, Colenso, Tugela.
Pretoria (#116) — This was one of the Boer War "battle names" that saw quite a lot of popularity as a first name as well as a middle name. Unlike the other battle names, Pretoria was given almost exclusively to girls: most likely because of it similarity to Victoria.
Hector (#42) — Hector shot up in popularity in 1900 thanks to Major-General Sir Hector MacDonald, who was a notable soldier and knighted for his efforts in the Boer War. Many boys were given the name "Hector MacDonald" for their first names.
Redvers (#50) — Redvers was given to nearly 12,000 boys in 1900 in honour of Major-General Sir Redvers Buller, a popular military leader.
Baden (#51) — Almost as many boys that were named Redvers were named Baden, in honour of Robert Baden-Powell who was regarded as the hero of the Seige of Mafeking. Several boys were given "Baden Powell" as their first names, others just had Baden.
Roberts (#110) — Frederick Roberts (Lord Roberts), was another notable war-hero who received many honours when he returned to England. Over 300 boys were given the name Roberts in 1900 and 28 were named Bobs, which was apparently Lord Roberts' nickname. Many boys were also called "Lord Roberts" or, in the case of a few boys whose surname was Roberts, simply Lord (#200).
