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 15,157,029 male births and 14,894,724 female births
Popular names of the period 1940s
Males Females
Rank Name Number Name Number
1 James 795,753 Mary 640,066
2 Robert 758,091 Linda 531,653
3 John 711,578 Barbara 425,261
4 William 556,446 Patricia 411,412
5 Richard 477,458 Carol 292,328
6 David 426,349 Sandra 265,536
7 Charles 361,747 Nancy 252,054
8 Thomas 350,760 Sharon 221,230
9 Michael 336,559 Judith 218,033
10 Ronald 282,458 Susan 212,013
11 Larry 255,899 Betty 194,622
12 Donald 247,820 Carolyn 181,852
13 Joseph 230,273 Margaret 173,023
14 Gary 217,762 Shirley 171,777
15 George 209,000 Judy 167,716
16 Kenneth 198,542 Karen 167,700
17 Paul 183,342 Donna 165,523
18 Edward 174,789 Kathleen 152,980
19 Jerry 167,244 Joyce 151,493
20 Dennis 162,109 Dorothy 132,255
21 Frank 119,417 Janet 130,755
22 Daniel 112,771 Diane 122,877
23 Raymond 109,067 Janice 118,892
24 Roger 107,597 Joan 117,706
25 Stephen 106,803 Elizabeth 116,543
26 Gerald 103,340 Brenda 112,410
27 Walter 83,727 Gloria 105,049
28 Harold 82,172 Virginia 98,998
29 Steven 81,205 Marilyn 98,975
30 Douglas 80,758 Martha 95,383
31 Lawrence 80,453 Beverly 95,121
32 Terry 76,967 Helen 90,740
33 Wayne 75,125 Bonnie 86,886
34 Arthur 73,966 Ruth 85,662
35 Jack 73,921 Frances 85,443
36 Carl 72,733 Jean 80,367
37 Henry 72,481 Ann 76,794
38 Willie 72,415 Phyllis 76,138
39 Bruce 72,094 Pamela 73,120
40 Joe 72,013 Jane 72,536
41 Peter 69,329 Alice 72,391
42 Billy 67,827 Peggy 72,121
43 Roy 65,642 Cheryl 70,959
44 Ralph 64,974 Doris 64,140
45 Anthony 64,825 Catherine 62,082
46 Jimmy 63,522 Elaine 60,103
47 Albert 60,275 Cynthia 58,060
48 Bobby 58,889 Marie 57,519
49 Eugene 57,269 Lois 56,854
50 Johnny 57,196 Connie 56,601
51 Fred 56,666 Christine 54,562
52 Harry 56,244 Diana 53,697
53 Howard 53,528 Gail 53,140
54 Mark 50,729 Joanne 51,653
55 Alan 50,303 Rose 51,640
56 Louis 49,425 Wanda 50,775
57 Philip 48,731 Carole 50,304
58 Patrick 48,616 Rita 49,852
59 Dale 46,809 Charlotte 49,478
60 Danny 46,655 Jo 48,447
61 Stanley 46,263 Evelyn 48,158
62 Leonard 44,284 Geraldine 47,933
63 Timothy 43,504 Jacqueline 45,557
64 Gregory 43,223 Ellen 45,406
65 Samuel 43,126 Sally 45,343
66 Ronnie 42,455 Rebecca 45,311
67 Norman 42,163 Kathryn 44,581
68 Ernest 41,760 Deborah 44,055
69 Russell 41,331 Norma 43,030
70 Francis 39,517 Suzanne 41,404
71 Melvin 39,232 Anna 41,280
72 Earl 39,124 Sue 40,943
73 Frederick 39,111 Darlene 40,321
74 Allen 39,049 Patsy 40,278
75 Bill 37,756 Joann 40,016
76 Tommy 37,043 Sarah 39,975
77 Phillip 36,988 Katherine 39,911
78 Marvin 36,442 Paula 39,046
79 Steve 36,284 Annie 38,714
80 Don 36,253 Louise 38,663
81 Clarence 36,197 Roberta 38,049
82 Barry 36,190 Sylvia 37,285
83 Glenn 35,714 Anne 36,145
84 Jim 35,631 Theresa 35,789
85 Eddie 34,805 Sheila 35,741
86 Mike 34,643 Maria 35,569
87 Andrew 34,618 Laura 35,070
88 Jeffrey 34,339 Kathy 34,765
89 Leroy 33,859 Eileen 34,694
90 Alfred 31,994 Marcia 34,394
91 Martin 31,403 Rosemary 34,296
92 Lee 30,977 Glenda 33,348
93 Tom 29,884 Dolores 33,099
94 Ray 29,653 Mildred 33,069
95 Herbert 28,705 Lorraine 33,046
96 Gene 27,739 Marjorie 32,901
97 Bernard 26,445 Sherry 32,757
98 Theodore 26,246 Kay 32,653
99 Curtis 26,004 Anita 32,528
100 Keith 25,870 Dianne 32,295
101 Clifford 25,819 Ruby 31,871
102 Rodney 24,845 Irene 31,819
103 Gordon 24,467 Juanita 30,445
104 Jimmie 24,360 Maureen 30,261
105 Jesse 24,336 Loretta 30,119
106 Vincent 23,897 Jeanne 30,115
107 Warren 23,738 Constance 29,911
108 Lloyd 23,601 Lynn 29,387
109 Leon 23,577 Marlene 29,293
110 Jerome 23,110 Arlene 29,093
111 Edwin 22,973 Delores 28,503
112 Brian 22,792 Lynda 27,951
113 Victor 22,520 Julia 27,892
114 Bob 21,376 Marsha 27,415
115 Floyd 20,995 Charlene 26,782
116 Lewis 20,930 June 25,167
117 Harvey 20,762 Jeanette 24,728
118 Alvin 20,715 Edna 24,699
119 Clyde 20,707 Josephine 24,323
120 Craig 20,290 Eleanor 23,760
121 Vernon 20,038 Yvonne 23,673
122 Leslie 19,388 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 22,311
127 Charlie 18,263 Edith 22,149
128 Darrell 18,226 Pauline 21,912
129 Jackie 18,124 Wilma 21,192
130 Dan 18,017 Victoria 20,752
131 Allan 17,829 Ethel 20,582
132 Randall 17,775 Lucille 20,453
133 Joel 17,424 Florence 20,394
134 Gilbert 17,351 Sara 20,275
135 Benjamin 17,184 Margie 20,260
136 Lester 17,080 Thelma 20,230
137 Duane 17,070 Clara 20,029
138 Leo 16,961 Audrey 19,718
139 Tony 16,961 Grace 19,370
140 Herman 16,853 Teresa 19,330
141 Jose 16,818 Annette 19,178
142 Glen 16,550 Claudia 19,174
143 Johnnie 16,420 Gladys 19,062
144 Dean 16,355 Julie 19,036
145 Arnold 16,037 Marion 18,491
146 Lonnie 15,900 Gwendolyn 18,343
147 Christopher 15,866 Priscilla 18,123
148 Nicholas 15,506 Willie 18,098
149 Freddie 15,376 Esther 17,638
150 Chester 15,285 Eva 17,562
151 Eric 15,188 Andrea 17,061
152 Milton 14,879 Maryann 17,052
153 Cecil 14,837 Bernice 17,030
154 Lynn 14,202 Rosa 16,795
155 Manuel 14,187 Hazel 16,657
156 Randy 14,165 Billie 16,370
157 Roland 13,091 Bertha 16,225
158 Ted 13,027 Gayle 16,198
159 Dwight 12,864 Bobbie 16,197
160 Claude 12,817 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 11,464 Beatrice 15,561
167 Kevin 11,272 Cathy 15,550
168 Hugh 10,993 Lillie 15,357
169 Donnie 10,986 Janis 14,862
170 Elmer 10,878 Leslie 14,855
171 Micheal 10,619 Ida 14,293
172 Willard 10,601 Lynne 14,236
173 Juan 10,556 Deanna 13,739
174 Maurice 10,478 Faye 13,710
175 Jessie 10,320 Terry 13,699
176 Garry 10,319 Valerie 13,694
177 Marshall 10,240 Emily 13,409
178 Oscar 10,186 Rachel 13,409
179 Edgar 9,805 Lucy 13,128
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 12,924
184 Nathaniel 9,490 Regina 12,713
185 Alexander 9,478 Rosalie 12,587
186 Sammy 9,360 Alma 12,401
187 Everett 9,313 Angela 12,259
188 Benny 9,302 Vera 12,189
189 Guy 8,953 Jessie 12,149
190 Virgil 8,949 Marianne 11,946
191 Morris 8,802 Stephanie 11,936
192 Matthew 8,761 Jill 11,865
193 Earnest 8,704 Mattie 11,781
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 2023. See the limitations of this data source.