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 15,156,760 male births and 14,894,634 female births
Popular names of the period 1940s
Males Females
Rank Name Number Name Number
1 James 795,735 Mary 640,062
2 Robert 758,085 Linda 531,652
3 John 711,571 Barbara 425,260
4 William 556,442 Patricia 411,408
5 Richard 477,458 Carol 292,328
6 David 426,344 Sandra 265,533
7 Charles 361,734 Nancy 252,054
8 Thomas 350,754 Sharon 221,231
9 Michael 336,549 Judith 218,030
10 Ronald 282,454 Susan 212,011
11 Larry 255,891 Betty 194,619
12 Donald 247,810 Carolyn 181,853
13 Joseph 230,269 Margaret 173,023
14 Gary 217,757 Shirley 171,779
15 George 209,005 Judy 167,718
16 Kenneth 198,537 Karen 167,697
17 Paul 183,340 Donna 165,524
18 Edward 174,785 Kathleen 152,979
19 Jerry 167,239 Joyce 151,494
20 Dennis 162,103 Dorothy 132,254
21 Frank 119,417 Janet 130,753
22 Daniel 112,770 Diane 122,877
23 Raymond 109,061 Janice 118,891
24 Roger 107,597 Joan 117,704
25 Stephen 106,801 Elizabeth 116,541
26 Gerald 103,336 Brenda 112,409
27 Walter 83,727 Gloria 105,045
28 Harold 82,171 Virginia 98,997
29 Steven 81,204 Marilyn 98,972
30 Douglas 80,760 Martha 95,381
31 Lawrence 80,452 Beverly 95,121
32 Terry 76,966 Helen 90,739
33 Wayne 75,123 Bonnie 86,885
34 Arthur 73,965 Ruth 85,662
35 Jack 73,919 Frances 85,442
36 Carl 72,731 Jean 80,366
37 Henry 72,478 Ann 76,794
38 Willie 72,416 Phyllis 76,137
39 Bruce 72,094 Pamela 73,120
40 Joe 72,011 Jane 72,536
41 Peter 69,329 Alice 72,390
42 Billy 67,827 Peggy 72,120
43 Roy 65,639 Cheryl 70,957
44 Ralph 64,972 Doris 64,139
45 Anthony 64,825 Catherine 62,082
46 Jimmy 63,519 Elaine 60,105
47 Albert 60,272 Cynthia 58,060
48 Bobby 58,885 Marie 57,519
49 Eugene 57,267 Lois 56,855
50 Johnny 57,191 Connie 56,601
51 Fred 56,665 Christine 54,562
52 Harry 56,243 Diana 53,696
53 Howard 53,529 Gail 53,138
54 Mark 50,728 Joanne 51,652
55 Alan 50,303 Rose 51,639
56 Louis 49,425 Wanda 50,774
57 Philip 48,731 Carole 50,307
58 Patrick 48,615 Rita 49,852
59 Dale 46,806 Charlotte 49,478
60 Danny 46,655 Jo 48,447
61 Stanley 46,263 Evelyn 48,159
62 Leonard 44,280 Geraldine 47,933
63 Timothy 43,503 Jacqueline 45,555
64 Gregory 43,221 Ellen 45,405
65 Samuel 43,123 Sally 45,342
66 Ronnie 42,454 Rebecca 45,310
67 Norman 42,163 Kathryn 44,581
68 Ernest 41,759 Deborah 44,057
69 Russell 41,330 Norma 43,030
70 Francis 39,518 Suzanne 41,403
71 Melvin 39,229 Anna 41,282
72 Earl 39,125 Sue 40,942
73 Frederick 39,110 Darlene 40,321
74 Allen 39,046 Patsy 40,278
75 Bill 37,758 Joann 40,016
76 Tommy 37,040 Sarah 39,975
77 Phillip 36,990 Katherine 39,911
78 Marvin 36,441 Paula 39,045
79 Steve 36,283 Annie 38,716
80 Don 36,250 Louise 38,663
81 Clarence 36,195 Roberta 38,049
82 Barry 36,189 Sylvia 37,284
83 Glenn 35,713 Anne 36,145
84 Jim 35,629 Theresa 35,789
85 Eddie 34,806 Sheila 35,742
86 Mike 34,643 Maria 35,566
87 Andrew 34,615 Laura 35,071
88 Jeffrey 34,339 Kathy 34,765
89 Leroy 33,858 Eileen 34,695
90 Alfred 31,996 Marcia 34,395
91 Martin 31,403 Rosemary 34,296
92 Lee 30,977 Glenda 33,349
93 Tom 29,883 Dolores 33,099
94 Ray 29,653 Mildred 33,068
95 Herbert 28,704 Lorraine 33,046
96 Gene 27,738 Marjorie 32,901
97 Bernard 26,445 Sherry 32,757
98 Theodore 26,245 Kay 32,652
99 Curtis 26,004 Anita 32,527
100 Keith 25,870 Dianne 32,296
101 Clifford 25,821 Ruby 31,871
102 Rodney 24,845 Irene 31,819
103 Gordon 24,466 Juanita 30,445
104 Jimmie 24,360 Maureen 30,261
105 Jesse 24,334 Loretta 30,119
106 Vincent 23,899 Jeanne 30,114
107 Warren 23,736 Constance 29,910
108 Lloyd 23,600 Lynn 29,386
109 Leon 23,576 Marlene 29,293
110 Jerome 23,109 Arlene 29,093
111 Edwin 22,974 Delores 28,502
112 Brian 22,790 Lynda 27,951
113 Victor 22,519 Julia 27,892
114 Bob 21,375 Marsha 27,414
115 Floyd 20,995 Charlene 26,782
116 Lewis 20,929 June 25,167
117 Harvey 20,761 Jeanette 24,728
118 Alvin 20,711 Edna 24,698
119 Clyde 20,708 Josephine 24,321
120 Craig 20,290 Eleanor 23,760
121 Vernon 20,037 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 18,660 Lillian 22,311
127 Charlie 18,263 Edith 22,148
128 Darrell 18,226 Pauline 21,912
129 Jackie 18,124 Wilma 21,192
130 Dan 18,017 Victoria 20,752
131 Allan 17,830 Ethel 20,582
132 Randall 17,775 Lucille 20,455
133 Joel 17,423 Florence 20,391
134 Gilbert 17,351 Sara 20,274
135 Benjamin 17,182 Margie 20,260
136 Lester 17,081 Thelma 20,231
137 Duane 17,070 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 16,551 Claudia 19,172
143 Johnnie 16,419 Gladys 19,061
144 Dean 16,355 Julie 19,036
145 Arnold 16,038 Marion 18,491
146 Lonnie 15,900 Gwendolyn 18,343
147 Christopher 15,868 Priscilla 18,122
148 Nicholas 15,505 Willie 18,099
149 Freddie 15,374 Esther 17,637
150 Chester 15,285 Eva 17,563
151 Eric 15,187 Andrea 17,060
152 Milton 14,878 Maryann 17,053
153 Cecil 14,837 Bernice 17,029
154 Lynn 14,202 Rosa 16,796
155 Manuel 14,188 Hazel 16,657
156 Randy 14,165 Billie 16,370
157 Roland 13,091 Bertha 16,224
158 Ted 13,026 Gayle 16,198
159 Dwight 12,863 Bobbie 16,197
160 Claude 12,817 Pat 16,150
161 Wesley 12,463 Maxine 16,072
162 Neil 12,427 Marian 16,041
163 Sam 12,350 Ella 15,976
164 Scott 12,161 Paulette 15,900
165 Dave 11,740 Joy 15,564
166 Wallace 11,465 Beatrice 15,560
167 Kevin 11,273 Cathy 15,551
168 Hugh 10,993 Lillie 15,357
169 Donnie 10,987 Janis 14,862
170 Elmer 10,878 Leslie 14,855
171 Micheal 10,619 Ida 14,293
172 Willard 10,600 Lynne 14,236
173 Juan 10,556 Deanna 13,739
174 Maurice 10,479 Faye 13,709
175 Jessie 10,320 Terry 13,699
176 Garry 10,319 Valerie 13,693
177 Marshall 10,240 Emily 13,409
178 Oscar 10,187 Rachel 13,408
179 Edgar 9,805 Lucy 13,127
180 Karl 9,723 Janie 13,119
181 Marion 9,668 Penny 13,113
182 Sidney 9,610 Jackie 13,090
183 Stuart 9,526 Harriet 12,923
184 Nathaniel 9,490 Regina 12,714
185 Alexander 9,479 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 8,952 Jessie 12,149
190 Virgil 8,949 Marianne 11,946
191 Morris 8,801 Stephanie 11,936
192 Matthew 8,761 Jill 11,865
193 Earnest 8,704 Mattie 11,780
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 2022. See the limitations of this data source.