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 15,155,311 male births and 14,894,029 female births
Popular names of the period 1940s
Males Females
Rank Name Number Name Number
1 James 795,660 Mary 640,023
2 Robert 758,018 Linda 531,631
3 John 711,528 Barbara 425,242
4 William 556,399 Patricia 411,393
5 Richard 477,396 Carol 292,321
6 David 426,293 Sandra 265,523
7 Charles 361,691 Nancy 252,037
8 Thomas 350,739 Sharon 221,223
9 Michael 336,533 Judith 218,017
10 Ronald 282,417 Susan 212,012
11 Larry 255,858 Betty 194,612
12 Donald 247,755 Carolyn 181,844
13 Joseph 230,239 Margaret 173,013
14 Gary 217,732 Shirley 171,773
15 George 208,986 Judy 167,711
16 Kenneth 198,512 Karen 167,689
17 Paul 183,330 Donna 165,519
18 Edward 174,765 Kathleen 152,978
19 Jerry 167,220 Joyce 151,484
20 Dennis 162,091 Dorothy 132,245
21 Frank 119,401 Janet 130,744
22 Daniel 112,756 Diane 122,869
23 Raymond 109,063 Janice 118,880
24 Roger 107,584 Joan 117,696
25 Stephen 106,789 Elizabeth 116,535
26 Gerald 103,325 Brenda 112,403
27 Walter 83,720 Gloria 105,041
28 Harold 82,152 Virginia 98,992
29 Steven 81,205 Marilyn 98,968
30 Douglas 80,755 Martha 95,378
31 Lawrence 80,439 Beverly 95,122
32 Terry 76,954 Helen 90,737
33 Wayne 75,118 Bonnie 86,876
34 Arthur 73,958 Ruth 85,657
35 Jack 73,915 Frances 85,431
36 Carl 72,729 Jean 80,364
37 Henry 72,465 Ann 76,792
38 Willie 72,401 Phyllis 76,134
39 Bruce 72,086 Pamela 73,116
40 Joe 72,000 Jane 72,531
41 Peter 69,334 Alice 72,387
42 Billy 67,820 Peggy 72,114
43 Roy 65,623 Cheryl 70,957
44 Ralph 64,963 Doris 64,132
45 Anthony 64,817 Catherine 62,078
46 Jimmy 63,508 Elaine 60,105
47 Albert 60,264 Cynthia 58,057
48 Bobby 58,878 Marie 57,516
49 Eugene 57,260 Lois 56,852
50 Johnny 57,184 Connie 56,595
51 Fred 56,655 Christine 54,567
52 Harry 56,239 Diana 53,689
53 Howard 53,525 Gail 53,139
54 Mark 50,729 Joanne 51,652
55 Alan 50,303 Rose 51,636
56 Louis 49,419 Wanda 50,772
57 Philip 48,731 Carole 50,304
58 Patrick 48,613 Rita 49,852
59 Dale 46,802 Charlotte 49,475
60 Danny 46,654 Jo 48,446
61 Stanley 46,265 Evelyn 48,159
62 Leonard 44,277 Geraldine 47,936
63 Timothy 43,490 Jacqueline 45,558
64 Gregory 43,219 Ellen 45,401
65 Samuel 43,120 Sally 45,342
66 Ronnie 42,452 Rebecca 45,308
67 Norman 42,166 Kathryn 44,581
68 Ernest 41,755 Deborah 44,059
69 Russell 41,326 Norma 43,025
70 Francis 39,518 Suzanne 41,402
71 Melvin 39,227 Anna 41,280
72 Earl 39,125 Sue 40,943
73 Frederick 39,103 Darlene 40,320
74 Allen 39,044 Patsy 40,277
75 Bill 37,758 Joann 40,012
76 Tommy 37,037 Sarah 39,973
77 Phillip 36,985 Katherine 39,911
78 Marvin 36,435 Paula 39,040
79 Steve 36,282 Annie 38,715
80 Don 36,246 Louise 38,653
81 Clarence 36,190 Roberta 38,048
82 Barry 36,188 Sylvia 37,282
83 Glenn 35,712 Anne 36,144
84 Jim 35,628 Theresa 35,792
85 Eddie 34,799 Sheila 35,739
86 Mike 34,644 Maria 35,563
87 Andrew 34,618 Laura 35,074
88 Jeffrey 34,341 Kathy 34,766
89 Leroy 33,855 Eileen 34,691
90 Alfred 31,991 Marcia 34,395
91 Martin 31,405 Rosemary 34,295
92 Lee 30,976 Glenda 33,347
93 Tom 29,881 Dolores 33,099
94 Ray 29,653 Mildred 33,064
95 Herbert 28,697 Lorraine 33,047
96 Gene 27,737 Marjorie 32,900
97 Bernard 26,444 Sherry 32,757
98 Theodore 26,243 Kay 32,650
99 Curtis 26,003 Anita 32,528
100 Keith 25,870 Dianne 32,292
101 Clifford 25,819 Ruby 31,871
102 Rodney 24,844 Irene 31,818
103 Gordon 24,461 Juanita 30,442
104 Jimmie 24,357 Maureen 30,259
105 Jesse 24,334 Loretta 30,118
106 Vincent 23,900 Jeanne 30,114
107 Warren 23,731 Constance 29,907
108 Lloyd 23,595 Lynn 29,384
109 Leon 23,576 Marlene 29,294
110 Jerome 23,106 Arlene 29,094
111 Edwin 22,968 Delores 28,501
112 Brian 22,789 Lynda 27,949
113 Victor 22,522 Julia 27,891
114 Bob 21,373 Marsha 27,410
115 Floyd 20,997 Charlene 26,779
116 Lewis 20,923 June 25,165
117 Harvey 20,757 Jeanette 24,723
118 Clyde 20,706 Edna 24,698
119 Alvin 20,705 Josephine 24,320
120 Craig 20,287 Eleanor 23,758
121 Vernon 20,033 Yvonne 23,672
122 Leslie 19,387 Vicki 23,492
123 Franklin 19,306 Vivian 22,914
124 Calvin 19,237 Emma 22,787
125 Jon 19,035 Georgia 22,390
126 Jay 18,663 Lillian 22,308
127 Charlie 18,260 Edith 22,146
128 Darrell 18,226 Pauline 21,910
129 Jackie 18,120 Wilma 21,192
130 Dan 18,014 Victoria 20,753
131 Allan 17,828 Ethel 20,580
132 Randall 17,776 Lucille 20,455
133 Joel 17,421 Florence 20,392
134 Gilbert 17,346 Sara 20,272
135 Benjamin 17,177 Margie 20,260
136 Lester 17,080 Thelma 20,230
137 Duane 17,067 Clara 20,028
138 Tony 16,959 Audrey 19,718
139 Leo 16,956 Grace 19,371
140 Herman 16,849 Teresa 19,329
141 Jose 16,816 Annette 19,176
142 Glen 16,545 Claudia 19,170
143 Johnnie 16,419 Gladys 19,059
144 Dean 16,356 Julie 19,034
145 Arnold 16,029 Marion 18,490
146 Lonnie 15,895 Gwendolyn 18,342
147 Christopher 15,871 Priscilla 18,122
148 Nicholas 15,507 Willie 18,098
149 Freddie 15,371 Esther 17,638
150 Chester 15,283 Eva 17,563
151 Eric 15,191 Andrea 17,060
152 Milton 14,873 Maryann 17,053
153 Cecil 14,837 Bernice 17,029
154 Lynn 14,200 Rosa 16,793
155 Manuel 14,188 Hazel 16,657
156 Randy 14,165 Billie 16,369
157 Roland 13,089 Bertha 16,225
158 Ted 13,026 Gayle 16,198
159 Dwight 12,861 Bobbie 16,197
160 Claude 12,814 Pat 16,151
161 Wesley 12,458 Maxine 16,071
162 Neil 12,432 Marian 16,041
163 Sam 12,350 Ella 15,973
164 Scott 12,161 Paulette 15,900
165 Dave 11,739 Joy 15,565
166 Wallace 11,464 Beatrice 15,561
167 Kevin 11,278 Cathy 15,551
168 Hugh 10,992 Lillie 15,353
169 Donnie 10,988 Janis 14,861
170 Elmer 10,874 Leslie 14,856
171 Micheal 10,618 Ida 14,291
172 Willard 10,596 Lynne 14,236
173 Juan 10,556 Deanna 13,739
174 Maurice 10,479 Faye 13,707
175 Garry 10,319 Terry 13,698
176 Jessie 10,317 Valerie 13,691
177 Marshall 10,239 Rachel 13,410
178 Oscar 10,188 Emily 13,408
179 Edgar 9,805 Lucy 13,128
180 Karl 9,723 Janie 13,118
181 Marion 9,667 Penny 13,114
182 Sidney 9,611 Jackie 13,090
183 Stuart 9,528 Harriet 12,922
184 Nathaniel 9,491 Regina 12,714
185 Alexander 9,479 Rosalie 12,587
186 Sammy 9,359 Alma 12,400
187 Everett 9,310 Angela 12,260
188 Benny 9,302 Vera 12,188
189 Guy 8,950 Jessie 12,148
190 Virgil 8,947 Marianne 11,944
191 Morris 8,801 Stephanie 11,936
192 Matthew 8,759 Jill 11,866
193 Earnest 8,704 Mattie 11,778
194 Lyle 8,618 Minnie 11,735
195 Max 8,522 Caroline 11,625
196 Bennie 8,478 Michele 11,604
197 Wendell 8,376 Veronica 11,528
198 Kent 8,347 Patty 11,416
199 Jonathan 8,298 Rosie 11,404
200 Fredrick 8,228 Stella 11,360
Source: 100% sample based on Social Security card application data as of the end of February 2018. See the limitations of this data source.