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 15,155,689 male births and 14,894,166 female births
Popular names of the period 1940s
Males Females
Rank Name Number Name Number
1 James 795,680 Mary 640,031
2 Robert 758,037 Linda 531,640
3 John 711,533 Barbara 425,249
4 William 556,414 Patricia 411,403
5 Richard 477,417 Carol 292,325
6 David 426,316 Sandra 265,522
7 Charles 361,693 Nancy 252,041
8 Thomas 350,742 Sharon 221,225
9 Michael 336,539 Judith 218,021
10 Ronald 282,424 Susan 212,011
11 Larry 255,867 Betty 194,611
12 Donald 247,776 Carolyn 181,848
13 Joseph 230,245 Margaret 173,014
14 Gary 217,742 Shirley 171,772
15 George 208,988 Judy 167,716
16 Kenneth 198,523 Karen 167,693
17 Paul 183,330 Donna 165,521
18 Edward 174,771 Kathleen 152,976
19 Jerry 167,225 Joyce 151,487
20 Dennis 162,093 Dorothy 132,245
21 Frank 119,405 Janet 130,747
22 Daniel 112,763 Diane 122,874
23 Raymond 109,060 Janice 118,884
24 Roger 107,587 Joan 117,697
25 Stephen 106,793 Elizabeth 116,536
26 Gerald 103,327 Brenda 112,406
27 Walter 83,723 Gloria 105,043
28 Harold 82,157 Virginia 98,994
29 Steven 81,205 Marilyn 98,971
30 Douglas 80,759 Martha 95,375
31 Lawrence 80,445 Beverly 95,122
32 Terry 76,958 Helen 90,737
33 Wayne 75,122 Bonnie 86,881
34 Arthur 73,959 Ruth 85,659
35 Jack 73,916 Frances 85,434
36 Carl 72,728 Jean 80,362
37 Henry 72,470 Ann 76,793
38 Willie 72,408 Phyllis 76,135
39 Bruce 72,088 Pamela 73,117
40 Joe 72,007 Jane 72,532
41 Peter 69,331 Alice 72,386
42 Billy 67,824 Peggy 72,114
43 Roy 65,631 Cheryl 70,959
44 Ralph 64,965 Doris 64,136
45 Anthony 64,823 Catherine 62,080
46 Jimmy 63,510 Elaine 60,104
47 Albert 60,266 Cynthia 58,058
48 Bobby 58,879 Marie 57,517
49 Eugene 57,262 Lois 56,854
50 Johnny 57,186 Connie 56,596
51 Fred 56,661 Christine 54,565
52 Harry 56,240 Diana 53,692
53 Howard 53,529 Gail 53,138
54 Mark 50,725 Joanne 51,652
55 Alan 50,302 Rose 51,635
56 Louis 49,420 Wanda 50,772
57 Philip 48,729 Carole 50,304
58 Patrick 48,613 Rita 49,852
59 Dale 46,801 Charlotte 49,476
60 Danny 46,655 Jo 48,447
61 Stanley 46,266 Evelyn 48,158
62 Leonard 44,279 Geraldine 47,935
63 Timothy 43,493 Jacqueline 45,556
64 Gregory 43,219 Ellen 45,403
65 Samuel 43,121 Sally 45,342
66 Ronnie 42,452 Rebecca 45,309
67 Norman 42,163 Kathryn 44,581
68 Ernest 41,757 Deborah 44,058
69 Russell 41,326 Norma 43,026
70 Francis 39,516 Suzanne 41,402
71 Melvin 39,228 Anna 41,279
72 Earl 39,125 Sue 40,942
73 Frederick 39,104 Darlene 40,321
74 Allen 39,045 Patsy 40,277
75 Bill 37,757 Joann 40,013
76 Tommy 37,038 Sarah 39,973
77 Phillip 36,987 Katherine 39,911
78 Marvin 36,439 Paula 39,040
79 Steve 36,282 Annie 38,715
80 Don 36,250 Louise 38,657
81 Clarence 36,191 Roberta 38,048
82 Barry 36,187 Sylvia 37,282
83 Glenn 35,711 Anne 36,144
84 Jim 35,627 Theresa 35,790
85 Eddie 34,803 Sheila 35,740
86 Mike 34,643 Maria 35,565
87 Andrew 34,616 Laura 35,070
88 Jeffrey 34,338 Kathy 34,764
89 Leroy 33,854 Eileen 34,691
90 Alfred 31,991 Marcia 34,394
91 Martin 31,403 Rosemary 34,295
92 Lee 30,976 Glenda 33,347
93 Tom 29,883 Dolores 33,099
94 Ray 29,654 Mildred 33,065
95 Herbert 28,701 Lorraine 33,047
96 Gene 27,738 Marjorie 32,901
97 Bernard 26,445 Sherry 32,757
98 Theodore 26,244 Kay 32,651
99 Curtis 26,004 Anita 32,528
100 Keith 25,868 Dianne 32,294
101 Clifford 25,820 Ruby 31,871
102 Rodney 24,844 Irene 31,817
103 Gordon 24,465 Juanita 30,444
104 Jimmie 24,358 Maureen 30,260
105 Jesse 24,335 Loretta 30,118
106 Vincent 23,897 Jeanne 30,114
107 Warren 23,733 Constance 29,908
108 Lloyd 23,598 Lynn 29,384
109 Leon 23,575 Marlene 29,294
110 Jerome 23,106 Arlene 29,094
111 Edwin 22,970 Delores 28,502
112 Brian 22,790 Lynda 27,950
113 Victor 22,519 Julia 27,889
114 Bob 21,374 Marsha 27,410
115 Floyd 20,995 Charlene 26,780
116 Lewis 20,926 June 25,164
117 Harvey 20,757 Jeanette 24,725
118 Clyde 20,707 Edna 24,698
119 Alvin 20,706 Josephine 24,320
120 Craig 20,288 Eleanor 23,760
121 Vernon 20,035 Yvonne 23,673
122 Leslie 19,387 Vicki 23,493
123 Franklin 19,305 Vivian 22,914
124 Calvin 19,237 Emma 22,787
125 Jon 19,033 Georgia 22,392
126 Jay 18,661 Lillian 22,310
127 Charlie 18,259 Edith 22,146
128 Darrell 18,226 Pauline 21,911
129 Jackie 18,121 Wilma 21,192
130 Dan 18,015 Victoria 20,752
131 Allan 17,827 Ethel 20,581
132 Randall 17,776 Lucille 20,455
133 Joel 17,422 Florence 20,392
134 Gilbert 17,347 Sara 20,272
135 Benjamin 17,177 Margie 20,260
136 Lester 17,082 Thelma 20,230
137 Duane 17,068 Clara 20,028
138 Tony 16,961 Audrey 19,718
139 Leo 16,958 Grace 19,370
140 Herman 16,849 Teresa 19,330
141 Jose 16,817 Annette 19,177
142 Glen 16,545 Claudia 19,171
143 Johnnie 16,419 Gladys 19,059
144 Dean 16,355 Julie 19,035
145 Arnold 16,033 Marion 18,491
146 Lonnie 15,895 Gwendolyn 18,342
147 Christopher 15,867 Priscilla 18,122
148 Nicholas 15,504 Willie 18,098
149 Freddie 15,371 Esther 17,637
150 Chester 15,283 Eva 17,563
151 Eric 15,189 Andrea 17,060
152 Milton 14,875 Maryann 17,053
153 Cecil 14,838 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 16,224
158 Ted 13,024 Bobbie 16,197
159 Dwight 12,862 Gayle 16,197
160 Claude 12,817 Pat 16,150
161 Wesley 12,458 Maxine 16,072
162 Neil 12,430 Marian 16,041
163 Sam 12,349 Ella 15,973
164 Scott 12,161 Paulette 15,900
165 Dave 11,739 Joy 15,565
166 Wallace 11,465 Beatrice 15,561
167 Kevin 11,277 Cathy 15,551
168 Hugh 10,992 Lillie 15,355
169 Donnie 10,987 Janis 14,862
170 Elmer 10,874 Leslie 14,856
171 Micheal 10,619 Ida 14,292
172 Willard 10,597 Lynne 14,237
173 Juan 10,556 Deanna 13,739
174 Maurice 10,480 Faye 13,707
175 Garry 10,319 Terry 13,698
176 Jessie 10,319 Valerie 13,692
177 Marshall 10,239 Rachel 13,409
178 Oscar 10,186 Emily 13,408
179 Edgar 9,805 Lucy 13,129
180 Karl 9,723 Janie 13,119
181 Marion 9,667 Penny 13,114
182 Sidney 9,610 Jackie 13,091
183 Stuart 9,526 Harriet 12,922
184 Nathaniel 9,492 Regina 12,714
185 Alexander 9,480 Rosalie 12,587
186 Sammy 9,359 Alma 12,401
187 Everett 9,310 Angela 12,260
188 Benny 9,302 Vera 12,189
189 Guy 8,950 Jessie 12,148
190 Virgil 8,947 Marianne 11,944
191 Morris 8,800 Stephanie 11,936
192 Matthew 8,759 Jill 11,867
193 Earnest 8,704 Mattie 11,779
194 Lyle 8,619 Minnie 11,734
195 Max 8,523 Caroline 11,625
196 Bennie 8,478 Michele 11,606
197 Wendell 8,377 Veronica 11,528
198 Kent 8,346 Patty 11,417
199 Jonathan 8,297 Rosie 11,404
200 Fredrick 8,229 Stella 11,361
Source: 100% sample based on Social Security card application data as of of March 2019. See the limitations of this data source.