Top names of the 1940s

The following table shows the 200 most popular given names for male and female babies born during the 1940s. 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 15,157,272 male births and 14,894,827 female births
Popular names of the period 1940s
Males Females
Rank Name Number Name Number
1 James 795,758 Mary 640,072
2 Robert 758,107 Linda 531,655
3 John 711,591 Barbara 425,262
4 William 556,451 Patricia 411,410
5 Richard 477,463 Carol 292,329
6 David 426,359 Sandra 265,536
7 Charles 361,752 Nancy 252,057
8 Thomas 350,766 Sharon 221,235
9 Michael 336,561 Judith 218,035
10 Ronald 282,468 Susan 212,014
11 Larry 255,904 Betty 194,623
12 Donald 247,826 Carolyn 181,854
13 Joseph 230,275 Margaret 173,023
14 Gary 217,767 Shirley 171,780
15 George 209,004 Judy 167,717
16 Kenneth 198,545 Karen 167,699
17 Paul 183,348 Donna 165,523
18 Edward 174,794 Kathleen 152,980
19 Jerry 167,245 Joyce 151,494
20 Dennis 162,112 Dorothy 132,254
21 Frank 119,421 Janet 130,754
22 Daniel 112,777 Diane 122,876
23 Raymond 109,067 Janice 118,892
24 Roger 107,597 Joan 117,707
25 Stephen 106,808 Elizabeth 116,548
26 Gerald 103,342 Brenda 112,412
27 Walter 83,727 Gloria 105,052
28 Harold 82,175 Virginia 98,998
29 Steven 81,204 Marilyn 98,977
30 Douglas 80,758 Martha 95,384
31 Lawrence 80,457 Beverly 95,123
32 Terry 76,966 Helen 90,742
33 Wayne 75,126 Bonnie 86,886
34 Arthur 73,967 Ruth 85,662
35 Jack 73,920 Frances 85,444
36 Carl 72,737 Jean 80,365
37 Henry 72,483 Ann 76,795
38 Willie 72,418 Phyllis 76,139
39 Bruce 72,096 Pamela 73,120
40 Joe 72,013 Jane 72,537
41 Peter 69,330 Alice 72,392
42 Billy 67,828 Peggy 72,121
43 Roy 65,643 Cheryl 70,959
44 Ralph 64,978 Doris 64,142
45 Anthony 64,826 Catherine 62,085
46 Jimmy 63,522 Elaine 60,103
47 Albert 60,276 Cynthia 58,060
48 Bobby 58,889 Marie 57,521
49 Eugene 57,269 Lois 56,854
50 Johnny 57,198 Connie 56,603
51 Fred 56,664 Christine 54,562
52 Harry 56,244 Diana 53,698
53 Howard 53,529 Gail 53,139
54 Mark 50,731 Joanne 51,653
55 Alan 50,302 Rose 51,641
56 Louis 49,427 Wanda 50,776
57 Philip 48,733 Carole 50,303
58 Patrick 48,617 Rita 49,853
59 Dale 46,811 Charlotte 49,478
60 Danny 46,657 Jo 48,448
61 Stanley 46,263 Evelyn 48,158
62 Leonard 44,285 Geraldine 47,933
63 Timothy 43,502 Jacqueline 45,558
64 Gregory 43,223 Ellen 45,405
65 Samuel 43,127 Sally 45,344
66 Ronnie 42,456 Rebecca 45,313
67 Norman 42,164 Kathryn 44,581
68 Ernest 41,760 Deborah 44,055
69 Russell 41,332 Norma 43,030
70 Francis 39,518 Suzanne 41,404
71 Melvin 39,235 Anna 41,281
72 Earl 39,126 Sue 40,943
73 Frederick 39,112 Darlene 40,321
74 Allen 39,048 Patsy 40,279
75 Bill 37,756 Joann 40,016
76 Tommy 37,045 Sarah 39,975
77 Phillip 36,988 Katherine 39,911
78 Marvin 36,443 Paula 39,044
79 Steve 36,283 Annie 38,714
80 Don 36,253 Louise 38,663
81 Clarence 36,196 Roberta 38,049
82 Barry 36,190 Sylvia 37,286
83 Glenn 35,716 Anne 36,145
84 Jim 35,631 Theresa 35,790
85 Eddie 34,806 Sheila 35,741
86 Mike 34,643 Maria 35,568
87 Andrew 34,617 Laura 35,070
88 Jeffrey 34,342 Kathy 34,765
89 Leroy 33,861 Eileen 34,694
90 Alfred 31,995 Marcia 34,395
91 Martin 31,402 Rosemary 34,296
92 Lee 30,976 Glenda 33,348
93 Tom 29,884 Dolores 33,099
94 Ray 29,654 Mildred 33,069
95 Herbert 28,705 Lorraine 33,046
96 Gene 27,740 Marjorie 32,901
97 Bernard 26,446 Sherry 32,758
98 Theodore 26,246 Kay 32,653
99 Curtis 26,005 Anita 32,528
100 Keith 25,871 Dianne 32,296
101 Clifford 25,821 Ruby 31,873
102 Rodney 24,846 Irene 31,821
103 Gordon 24,468 Juanita 30,444
104 Jimmie 24,360 Maureen 30,261
105 Jesse 24,336 Loretta 30,120
106 Vincent 23,897 Jeanne 30,116
107 Warren 23,738 Constance 29,912
108 Lloyd 23,603 Lynn 29,387
109 Leon 23,577 Marlene 29,294
110 Jerome 23,110 Arlene 29,093
111 Edwin 22,974 Delores 28,504
112 Brian 22,794 Lynda 27,952
113 Victor 22,520 Julia 27,891
114 Bob 21,376 Marsha 27,414
115 Floyd 20,996 Charlene 26,782
116 Lewis 20,930 June 25,168
117 Harvey 20,763 Jeanette 24,728
118 Alvin 20,715 Edna 24,699
119 Clyde 20,708 Josephine 24,324
120 Craig 20,289 Eleanor 23,760
121 Vernon 20,038 Yvonne 23,673
122 Leslie 19,389 Vicki 23,493
123 Franklin 19,311 Vivian 22,913
124 Calvin 19,241 Emma 22,788
125 Jon 19,034 Georgia 22,393
126 Jay 18,656 Lillian 22,312
127 Charlie 18,264 Edith 22,149
128 Darrell 18,226 Pauline 21,912
129 Jackie 18,124 Wilma 21,192
130 Dan 18,016 Victoria 20,752
131 Allan 17,829 Ethel 20,582
132 Randall 17,775 Lucille 20,452
133 Joel 17,424 Florence 20,394
134 Gilbert 17,352 Sara 20,275
135 Benjamin 17,184 Margie 20,261
136 Lester 17,080 Thelma 20,229
137 Duane 17,070 Clara 20,028
138 Leo 16,961 Audrey 19,718
139 Tony 16,960 Grace 19,369
140 Herman 16,853 Teresa 19,330
141 Jose 16,818 Annette 19,178
142 Glen 16,550 Claudia 19,174
143 Johnnie 16,422 Gladys 19,062
144 Dean 16,356 Julie 19,036
145 Arnold 16,038 Marion 18,491
146 Lonnie 15,900 Gwendolyn 18,343
147 Christopher 15,865 Priscilla 18,123
148 Nicholas 15,504 Willie 18,098
149 Freddie 15,376 Esther 17,638
150 Chester 15,285 Eva 17,561
151 Eric 15,190 Andrea 17,061
152 Milton 14,879 Maryann 17,053
153 Cecil 14,837 Bernice 17,031
154 Lynn 14,202 Rosa 16,795
155 Manuel 14,186 Hazel 16,658
156 Randy 14,164 Billie 16,371
157 Roland 13,091 Bertha 16,225
158 Ted 13,027 Gayle 16,198
159 Dwight 12,864 Bobbie 16,197
160 Claude 12,818 Pat 16,150
161 Wesley 12,465 Maxine 16,071
162 Neil 12,427 Marian 16,041
163 Sam 12,350 Ella 15,976
164 Scott 12,161 Paulette 15,901
165 Dave 11,740 Joy 15,565
166 Wallace 11,465 Beatrice 15,561
167 Kevin 11,272 Cathy 15,550
168 Hugh 10,996 Lillie 15,358
169 Donnie 10,988 Janis 14,862
170 Elmer 10,878 Leslie 14,856
171 Micheal 10,619 Ida 14,292
172 Willard 10,602 Lynne 14,236
173 Juan 10,556 Deanna 13,739
174 Maurice 10,477 Faye 13,711
175 Jessie 10,321 Terry 13,699
176 Garry 10,318 Valerie 13,694
177 Marshall 10,241 Emily 13,409
178 Oscar 10,186 Rachel 13,409
179 Edgar 9,804 Lucy 13,128
180 Karl 9,723 Janie 13,119
181 Marion 9,668 Penny 13,113
182 Sidney 9,609 Jackie 13,090
183 Stuart 9,525 Harriet 12,924
184 Nathaniel 9,490 Regina 12,713
185 Alexander 9,478 Rosalie 12,587
186 Sammy 9,360 Alma 12,400
187 Everett 9,314 Angela 12,259
188 Benny 9,302 Vera 12,189
189 Guy 8,953 Jessie 12,150
190 Virgil 8,949 Marianne 11,946
191 Morris 8,804 Stephanie 11,936
192 Matthew 8,760 Jill 11,865
193 Earnest 8,706 Mattie 11,781
194 Lyle 8,618 Minnie 11,735
195 Max 8,525 Caroline 11,625
196 Bennie 8,480 Michele 11,606
197 Wendell 8,377 Veronica 11,528
198 Kent 8,346 Patty 11,417
199 Jonathan 8,296 Rosie 11,404
200 Fredrick 8,231 Stella 11,363
Source: 100% sample based on Social Security card application data as of of March 2024. See the limitations of this data source.