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 15,156,657 male births and 14,894,530 female births
Popular names of the period 1940s
Males Females
Rank Name Number Name Number
1 James 795,738 Mary 640,050
2 Robert 758,077 Linda 531,650
3 John 711,570 Barbara 425,255
4 William 556,441 Patricia 411,409
5 Richard 477,449 Carol 292,325
6 David 426,344 Sandra 265,531
7 Charles 361,728 Nancy 252,052
8 Thomas 350,758 Sharon 221,229
9 Michael 336,553 Judith 218,029
10 Ronald 282,448 Susan 212,011
11 Larry 255,890 Betty 194,620
12 Donald 247,802 Carolyn 181,851
13 Joseph 230,268 Margaret 173,021
14 Gary 217,757 Shirley 171,777
15 George 209,005 Judy 167,718
16 Kenneth 198,537 Karen 167,696
17 Paul 183,340 Donna 165,525
18 Edward 174,779 Kathleen 152,979
19 Jerry 167,238 Joyce 151,491
20 Dennis 162,100 Dorothy 132,249
21 Frank 119,416 Janet 130,753
22 Daniel 112,768 Diane 122,878
23 Raymond 109,063 Janice 118,889
24 Roger 107,595 Joan 117,703
25 Stephen 106,802 Elizabeth 116,542
26 Gerald 103,332 Brenda 112,407
27 Walter 83,727 Gloria 105,044
28 Harold 82,168 Virginia 98,996
29 Steven 81,206 Marilyn 98,971
30 Douglas 80,761 Martha 95,380
31 Lawrence 80,450 Beverly 95,120
32 Terry 76,966 Helen 90,740
33 Wayne 75,123 Bonnie 86,885
34 Arthur 73,961 Ruth 85,660
35 Jack 73,919 Frances 85,439
36 Carl 72,731 Jean 80,365
37 Henry 72,479 Ann 76,794
38 Willie 72,415 Phyllis 76,136
39 Bruce 72,092 Pamela 73,119
40 Joe 72,010 Jane 72,535
41 Peter 69,333 Alice 72,389
42 Billy 67,826 Peggy 72,118
43 Roy 65,637 Cheryl 70,958
44 Ralph 64,969 Doris 64,137
45 Anthony 64,829 Catherine 62,082
46 Jimmy 63,517 Elaine 60,105
47 Albert 60,272 Cynthia 58,058
48 Bobby 58,886 Marie 57,519
49 Eugene 57,266 Lois 56,854
50 Johnny 57,191 Connie 56,601
51 Fred 56,666 Christine 54,563
52 Harry 56,244 Diana 53,696
53 Howard 53,529 Gail 53,139
54 Mark 50,728 Joanne 51,652
55 Alan 50,302 Rose 51,639
56 Louis 49,425 Wanda 50,774
57 Philip 48,732 Carole 50,307
58 Patrick 48,616 Rita 49,852
59 Dale 46,805 Charlotte 49,477
60 Danny 46,655 Jo 48,446
61 Stanley 46,264 Evelyn 48,159
62 Leonard 44,279 Geraldine 47,933
63 Timothy 43,502 Jacqueline 45,555
64 Gregory 43,220 Ellen 45,405
65 Samuel 43,123 Sally 45,342
66 Ronnie 42,453 Rebecca 45,309
67 Norman 42,162 Kathryn 44,581
68 Ernest 41,758 Deborah 44,058
69 Russell 41,328 Norma 43,029
70 Francis 39,518 Suzanne 41,403
71 Melvin 39,228 Anna 41,283
72 Earl 39,125 Sue 40,942
73 Frederick 39,109 Darlene 40,320
74 Allen 39,046 Patsy 40,277
75 Bill 37,760 Joann 40,016
76 Tommy 37,041 Sarah 39,973
77 Phillip 36,988 Katherine 39,911
78 Marvin 36,441 Paula 39,042
79 Steve 36,284 Annie 38,716
80 Don 36,251 Louise 38,662
81 Clarence 36,195 Roberta 38,050
82 Barry 36,189 Sylvia 37,284
83 Glenn 35,712 Anne 36,145
84 Jim 35,629 Theresa 35,789
85 Eddie 34,805 Sheila 35,741
86 Mike 34,642 Maria 35,563
87 Andrew 34,616 Laura 35,071
88 Jeffrey 34,338 Kathy 34,765
89 Leroy 33,859 Eileen 34,694
90 Alfred 31,995 Marcia 34,395
91 Martin 31,403 Rosemary 34,296
92 Lee 30,977 Glenda 33,348
93 Tom 29,884 Dolores 33,099
94 Ray 29,654 Mildred 33,066
95 Herbert 28,704 Lorraine 33,045
96 Gene 27,737 Marjorie 32,902
97 Bernard 26,446 Sherry 32,756
98 Theodore 26,245 Kay 32,652
99 Curtis 26,004 Anita 32,526
100 Keith 25,869 Dianne 32,296
101 Clifford 25,821 Ruby 31,871
102 Rodney 24,845 Irene 31,819
103 Gordon 24,465 Juanita 30,445
104 Jimmie 24,359 Maureen 30,261
105 Jesse 24,334 Loretta 30,119
106 Vincent 23,900 Jeanne 30,114
107 Warren 23,735 Constance 29,910
108 Lloyd 23,599 Lynn 29,386
109 Leon 23,577 Marlene 29,294
110 Jerome 23,108 Arlene 29,093
111 Edwin 22,974 Delores 28,502
112 Brian 22,791 Lynda 27,951
113 Victor 22,520 Julia 27,892
114 Bob 21,375 Marsha 27,413
115 Floyd 20,995 Charlene 26,782
116 Lewis 20,929 June 25,166
117 Harvey 20,759 Jeanette 24,726
118 Alvin 20,711 Edna 24,697
119 Clyde 20,708 Josephine 24,322
120 Craig 20,289 Eleanor 23,760
121 Vernon 20,036 Yvonne 23,672
122 Leslie 19,388 Vicki 23,493
123 Franklin 19,310 Vivian 22,913
124 Calvin 19,240 Emma 22,788
125 Jon 19,034 Georgia 22,394
126 Jay 18,661 Lillian 22,310
127 Charlie 18,262 Edith 22,149
128 Darrell 18,226 Pauline 21,912
129 Jackie 18,124 Wilma 21,192
130 Dan 18,019 Victoria 20,752
131 Allan 17,828 Ethel 20,582
132 Randall 17,774 Lucille 20,455
133 Joel 17,422 Florence 20,392
134 Gilbert 17,350 Sara 20,273
135 Benjamin 17,181 Margie 20,260
136 Lester 17,081 Thelma 20,231
137 Duane 17,069 Clara 20,028
138 Leo 16,959 Audrey 19,718
139 Tony 16,959 Grace 19,369
140 Herman 16,853 Teresa 19,329
141 Jose 16,817 Annette 19,178
142 Glen 16,550 Claudia 19,172
143 Johnnie 16,420 Gladys 19,061
144 Dean 16,354 Julie 19,035
145 Arnold 16,037 Marion 18,491
146 Lonnie 15,898 Gwendolyn 18,342
147 Christopher 15,870 Priscilla 18,122
148 Nicholas 15,505 Willie 18,099
149 Freddie 15,373 Esther 17,637
150 Chester 15,285 Eva 17,563
151 Eric 15,189 Andrea 17,060
152 Milton 14,878 Maryann 17,053
153 Cecil 14,837 Bernice 17,029
154 Lynn 14,201 Rosa 16,796
155 Manuel 14,188 Hazel 16,657
156 Randy 14,166 Billie 16,370
157 Roland 13,091 Bertha 16,224
158 Ted 13,026 Gayle 16,198
159 Dwight 12,862 Bobbie 16,197
160 Claude 12,818 Pat 16,150
161 Wesley 12,462 Maxine 16,072
162 Neil 12,427 Marian 16,041
163 Sam 12,350 Ella 15,975
164 Scott 12,161 Paulette 15,900
165 Dave 11,740 Joy 15,565
166 Wallace 11,465 Beatrice 15,560
167 Kevin 11,275 Cathy 15,551
168 Hugh 10,994 Lillie 15,356
169 Donnie 10,987 Janis 14,862
170 Elmer 10,877 Leslie 14,855
171 Micheal 10,619 Ida 14,293
172 Willard 10,600 Lynne 14,237
173 Juan 10,556 Deanna 13,739
174 Maurice 10,480 Faye 13,709
175 Jessie 10,320 Terry 13,699
176 Garry 10,319 Valerie 13,692
177 Marshall 10,240 Emily 13,409
178 Oscar 10,186 Rachel 13,408
179 Edgar 9,805 Lucy 13,128
180 Karl 9,723 Janie 13,120
181 Marion 9,668 Penny 13,113
182 Sidney 9,610 Jackie 13,090
183 Stuart 9,526 Harriet 12,922
184 Nathaniel 9,490 Regina 12,714
185 Alexander 9,478 Rosalie 12,587
186 Sammy 9,360 Alma 12,401
187 Everett 9,312 Angela 12,259
188 Benny 9,302 Vera 12,189
189 Guy 8,950 Jessie 12,149
190 Virgil 8,948 Marianne 11,946
191 Morris 8,801 Stephanie 11,936
192 Matthew 8,761 Jill 11,865
193 Earnest 8,704 Mattie 11,779
194 Lyle 8,619 Minnie 11,735
195 Max 8,524 Caroline 11,625
196 Bennie 8,480 Michele 11,605
197 Wendell 8,378 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 2021. See the limitations of this data source.