The baby names below saw higher usage prior to 1880 thanks to the influence of historical events. I’ve written explanatory blog posts about most of them — please click the links to learn more!
To check out history-influenced baby names from more recent decades, visit the baby name timeline main page.
- Aaron Burr
- Ambrose Burnside
- Antietam
- Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington (mostly outside the U.S.)
- Boer War-inspired names (outside the U.S.)
- Capitola
- Dorcasina
- Elbridge Gerry
- Elmer Ellsworth
- Flavilla
- Fort Sumter
- Frederick Douglass
- French Revolution-inspired names (outside the U.S.)
- Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher (mostly outside the U.S.)
- George B. McClellan
- Gettysburg
- Giuseppe Garibaldi (mostly outside the U.S.)
- Guy Fawkes (outside the U.S.)
- Hally
- Horatio Alger
- Malaeksa
- Malvern Hill
- Napoléon Bonaparte (mostly outside the U.S.)
- in the Faroes specifically
- Omoo
- Oscar (outside the U.S.)
- Russian Revolution-inspired names (outside the U.S.)
- Telegraph
- Theodosia Burr
- Ulysses S. Grant
- Waterloo
- William Tecumseh Sherman
- Zachary Taylor, Old Rough and Ready
Other historically significant baby names bestowed (in the U.S.) before 1880 include Emancipation Proclamation, Oregon Territory, Annexation, States Rights, Federal Constitution, Independence & Liberty (twins), Captivity, Providence, and Virginia.