Top names of the 1940s

The following table shows the 200 most popular given names for male and female babies born during 1940 - 1949. 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 15,155,297 male births and 14,893,991 female births.

**Popular names of the 1940s**
Rank	Name	Number	Name	Number
	Males		Females
1	James	795,663	Mary	640,012
2	Robert	758,015	Linda	531,625
3	John	711,539	Barbara	425,240
4	William	556,393	Patricia	411,397
5	Richard	477,396	Carol	292,322
6	David	426,291	Sandra	265,524
7	Charles	361,687	Nancy	252,035
8	Thomas	350,746	Sharon	221,222
9	Michael	336,556	Judith	218,014
10	Ronald	282,409	Susan	212,011
11	Larry	255,848	Betty	194,613
12	Donald	247,750	Carolyn	181,841
13	Joseph	230,241	Margaret	173,011
14	Gary	217,723	Shirley	171,767
15	George	208,986	Judy	167,709
16	Kenneth	198,497	Karen	167,691
17	Paul	183,329	Donna	165,517
18	Edward	174,772	Kathleen	152,977
19	Jerry	167,215	Joyce	151,486
20	Dennis	162,085	Dorothy	132,241
21	Frank	119,403	Janet	130,746
22	Daniel	112,768	Diane	122,869
23	Raymond	109,057	Janice	118,878
24	Roger	107,588	Joan	117,696
25	Stephen	106,784	Elizabeth	116,540
26	Gerald	103,323	Brenda	112,403
27	Walter	83,720	Gloria	105,038
28	Harold	82,148	Virginia	98,990
29	Steven	81,210	Marilyn	98,966
30	Douglas	80,754	Martha	95,375
31	Lawrence	80,445	Beverly	95,119
32	Terry	76,956	Helen	90,738
33	Wayne	75,119	Bonnie	86,875
34	Arthur	73,961	Ruth	85,656
35	Jack	73,915	Frances	85,430
36	Carl	72,726	Jean	80,365
37	Henry	72,462	Ann	76,791
38	Willie	72,398	Phyllis	76,132
39	Bruce	72,086	Pamela	73,115
40	Joe	71,993	Jane	72,532
41	Peter	69,343	Alice	72,384
42	Billy	67,813	Peggy	72,114
43	Roy	65,621	Cheryl	70,955
44	Ralph	64,956	Doris	64,133
45	Anthony	64,823	Catherine	62,077
46	Jimmy	63,505	Elaine	60,104
47	Albert	60,266	Cynthia	58,056
48	Bobby	58,875	Marie	57,516
49	Eugene	57,257	Lois	56,853
50	Johnny	57,177	Connie	56,596
51	Fred	56,652	Christine	54,564
52	Harry	56,239	Diana	53,686
53	Howard	53,524	Gail	53,138
54	Mark	50,732	Joanne	51,651
55	Alan	50,302	Rose	51,638
56	Louis	49,417	Wanda	50,772
57	Philip	48,736	Carole	50,304
58	Patrick	48,618	Rita	49,850
59	Dale	46,802	Charlotte	49,475
60	Danny	46,651	Jo	48,447
61	Stanley	46,263	Evelyn	48,159
62	Leonard	44,277	Geraldine	47,935
63	Timothy	43,494	Jacqueline	45,556
64	Gregory	43,227	Ellen	45,401
65	Samuel	43,123	Sally	45,343
66	Ronnie	42,447	Rebecca	45,309
67	Norman	42,166	Kathryn	44,581
68	Ernest	41,752	Deborah	44,059
69	Russell	41,325	Norma	43,023
70	Francis	39,521	Suzanne	41,402
71	Melvin	39,222	Anna	41,280
72	Earl	39,124	Sue	40,942
73	Frederick	39,099	Darlene	40,320
74	Allen	39,045	Patsy	40,277
75	Bill	37,762	Joann	40,010
76	Tommy	37,035	Sarah	39,975
77	Phillip	36,992	Katherine	39,913
78	Marvin	36,432	Paula	39,040
79	Steve	36,282	Annie	38,713
80	Don	36,242	Louise	38,652
81	Barry	36,188	Roberta	38,048
82	Clarence	36,188	Sylvia	37,286
83	Glenn	35,711	Anne	36,145
84	Jim	35,626	Theresa	35,788
85	Eddie	34,796	Sheila	35,739
86	Mike	34,644	Maria	35,559
87	Andrew	34,618	Laura	35,073
88	Jeffrey	34,345	Kathy	34,766
89	Leroy	33,853	Eileen	34,690
90	Alfred	31,988	Marcia	34,394
91	Martin	31,403	Rosemary	34,295
92	Lee	30,977	Glenda	33,344
93	Tom	29,881	Dolores	33,098
94	Ray	29,651	Mildred	33,064
95	Herbert	28,699	Lorraine	33,046
96	Gene	27,737	Marjorie	32,900
97	Bernard	26,447	Sherry	32,757
98	Theodore	26,243	Kay	32,650
99	Curtis	25,999	Anita	32,528
100	Keith	25,870	Dianne	32,291
101	Clifford	25,818	Ruby	31,871
102	Rodney	24,843	Irene	31,817
103	Gordon	24,461	Juanita	30,440
104	Jimmie	24,353	Maureen	30,259
105	Jesse	24,336	Loretta	30,120
106	Vincent	23,899	Jeanne	30,113
107	Warren	23,729	Constance	29,907
108	Lloyd	23,592	Lynn	29,385
109	Leon	23,577	Marlene	29,293
110	Jerome	23,108	Arlene	29,094
111	Edwin	22,970	Delores	28,502
112	Brian	22,791	Lynda	27,949
113	Victor	22,522	Julia	27,891
114	Bob	21,372	Marsha	27,409
115	Floyd	20,997	Charlene	26,779
116	Lewis	20,924	June	25,166
117	Harvey	20,757	Jeanette	24,723
118	Alvin	20,706	Edna	24,699
119	Clyde	20,706	Josephine	24,320
120	Craig	20,287	Eleanor	23,758
121	Vernon	20,031	Yvonne	23,672
122	Leslie	19,387	Vicki	23,490
123	Franklin	19,303	Vivian	22,914
124	Calvin	19,238	Emma	22,786
125	Jon	19,036	Georgia	22,391
126	Jay	18,663	Lillian	22,308
127	Charlie	18,258	Edith	22,146
128	Darrell	18,225	Pauline	21,910
129	Jackie	18,119	Wilma	21,192
130	Dan	18,011	Victoria	20,754
131	Allan	17,829	Ethel	20,579
132	Randall	17,777	Lucille	20,455
133	Joel	17,423	Florence	20,392
134	Gilbert	17,343	Sara	20,274
135	Benjamin	17,178	Margie	20,260
136	Lester	17,078	Thelma	20,229
137	Duane	17,069	Clara	20,028
138	Leo	16,957	Audrey	19,717
139	Tony	16,957	Grace	19,373
140	Herman	16,847	Teresa	19,330
141	Jose	16,815	Annette	19,175
142	Glen	16,545	Claudia	19,170
143	Johnnie	16,420	Gladys	19,058
144	Dean	16,357	Julie	19,036
145	Arnold	16,028	Marion	18,489
146	Lonnie	15,895	Gwendolyn	18,342
147	Christopher	15,874	Priscilla	18,122
148	Nicholas	15,508	Willie	18,097
149	Freddie	15,371	Esther	17,639
150	Chester	15,280	Eva	17,564
151	Eric	15,194	Andrea	17,061
152	Milton	14,873	Maryann	17,053
153	Cecil	14,836	Bernice	17,030
154	Lynn	14,198	Rosa	16,793
155	Manuel	14,186	Hazel	16,656
156	Randy	14,165	Billie	16,368
157	Roland	13,090	Bertha	16,225
158	Ted	13,027	Bobbie	16,197
159	Dwight	12,863	Gayle	16,197
160	Claude	12,814	Pat	16,150
161	Wesley	12,458	Maxine	16,071
162	Neil	12,433	Marian	16,040
163	Sam	12,351	Ella	15,973
164	Scott	12,164	Paulette	15,901
165	Dave	11,740	Joy	15,566
166	Wallace	11,463	Beatrice	15,561
167	Kevin	11,286	Cathy	15,551
168	Hugh	10,991	Lillie	15,354
169	Donnie	10,985	Janis	14,860
170	Elmer	10,873	Leslie	14,856
171	Micheal	10,617	Ida	14,291
172	Willard	10,596	Lynne	14,236
173	Juan	10,554	Deanna	13,737
174	Maurice	10,478	Faye	13,708
175	Garry	10,318	Terry	13,700
176	Jessie	10,316	Valerie	13,692
177	Marshall	10,238	Rachel	13,413
178	Oscar	10,187	Emily	13,406
179	Edgar	9,805	Lucy	13,128
180	Karl	9,727	Janie	13,117
181	Marion	9,667	Penny	13,114
182	Sidney	9,609	Jackie	13,093
183	Stuart	9,530	Harriet	12,923
184	Nathaniel	9,491	Regina	12,714
185	Alexander	9,480	Rosalie	12,586
186	Sammy	9,359	Alma	12,400
187	Everett	9,309	Angela	12,259
188	Benny	9,301	Vera	12,188
189	Guy	8,950	Jessie	12,148
190	Virgil	8,946	Marianne	11,945
191	Morris	8,800	Stephanie	11,937
192	Matthew	8,763	Jill	11,866
193	Earnest	8,703	Mattie	11,777
194	Lyle	8,618	Minnie	11,736
195	Max	8,525	Caroline	11,626
196	Bennie	8,477	Michele	11,603
197	Wendell	8,376	Veronica	11,528
198	Kent	8,346	Patty	11,416
199	Jonathan	8,300	Rosie	11,404
200	Fredrick	8,228	Stella	11,359
	Source: 100% sample based on Social Security card application data as of March 2017. See the limitations of this data source.