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 15,157,551 male births and 14,894,926 female births
Popular names of the period 1940s
Males Females
Rank Name Number Name Number
1 James 795,767 Mary 640,070
2 Robert 758,115 Linda 531,658
3 John 711,600 Barbara 425,267
4 William 556,469 Patricia 411,412
5 Richard 477,472 Carol 292,330
6 David 426,365 Sandra 265,536
7 Charles 361,760 Nancy 252,058
8 Thomas 350,771 Sharon 221,236
9 Michael 336,564 Judith 218,035
10 Ronald 282,478 Susan 212,014
11 Larry 255,907 Betty 194,622
12 Donald 247,829 Carolyn 181,855
13 Joseph 230,281 Margaret 173,025
14 Gary 217,769 Shirley 171,780
15 George 209,005 Judy 167,718
16 Kenneth 198,551 Karen 167,699
17 Paul 183,356 Donna 165,523
18 Edward 174,798 Kathleen 152,981
19 Jerry 167,250 Joyce 151,493
20 Dennis 162,113 Dorothy 132,255
21 Frank 119,420 Janet 130,754
22 Daniel 112,776 Diane 122,877
23 Raymond 109,070 Janice 118,892
24 Roger 107,597 Joan 117,708
25 Stephen 106,810 Elizabeth 116,551
26 Gerald 103,342 Brenda 112,414
27 Walter 83,726 Gloria 105,054
28 Harold 82,177 Virginia 98,998
29 Steven 81,205 Marilyn 98,977
30 Douglas 80,757 Martha 95,386
31 Lawrence 80,459 Beverly 95,124
32 Terry 76,966 Helen 90,742
33 Wayne 75,130 Bonnie 86,886
34 Arthur 73,966 Ruth 85,664
35 Jack 73,920 Frances 85,447
36 Carl 72,739 Jean 80,364
37 Henry 72,486 Ann 76,797
38 Willie 72,419 Phyllis 76,142
39 Bruce 72,096 Pamela 73,121
40 Joe 72,013 Jane 72,537
41 Peter 69,328 Alice 72,392
42 Billy 67,831 Peggy 72,121
43 Roy 65,645 Cheryl 70,959
44 Ralph 64,980 Doris 64,142
45 Anthony 64,824 Catherine 62,086
46 Jimmy 63,522 Elaine 60,104
47 Albert 60,276 Cynthia 58,060
48 Bobby 58,890 Marie 57,521
49 Eugene 57,273 Lois 56,854
50 Johnny 57,199 Connie 56,604
51 Fred 56,665 Christine 54,563
52 Harry 56,245 Diana 53,698
53 Howard 53,530 Gail 53,139
54 Mark 50,731 Joanne 51,654
55 Alan 50,302 Rose 51,643
56 Louis 49,429 Wanda 50,776
57 Philip 48,733 Carole 50,303
58 Patrick 48,618 Rita 49,854
59 Dale 46,812 Charlotte 49,478
60 Danny 46,659 Jo 48,449
61 Stanley 46,263 Evelyn 48,158
62 Leonard 44,286 Geraldine 47,933
63 Timothy 43,503 Jacqueline 45,558
64 Gregory 43,222 Ellen 45,405
65 Samuel 43,127 Sally 45,344
66 Ronnie 42,457 Rebecca 45,313
67 Norman 42,164 Kathryn 44,580
68 Ernest 41,762 Deborah 44,055
69 Russell 41,335 Norma 43,030
70 Francis 39,520 Suzanne 41,404
71 Melvin 39,236 Anna 41,281
72 Earl 39,127 Sue 40,943
73 Frederick 39,113 Darlene 40,321
74 Allen 39,047 Patsy 40,280
75 Bill 37,756 Joann 40,016
76 Tommy 37,045 Sarah 39,977
77 Phillip 36,988 Katherine 39,911
78 Marvin 36,444 Paula 39,045
79 Steve 36,283 Annie 38,714
80 Don 36,253 Louise 38,664
81 Clarence 36,197 Roberta 38,050
82 Barry 36,192 Sylvia 37,287
83 Glenn 35,716 Anne 36,146
84 Jim 35,632 Theresa 35,790
85 Eddie 34,806 Sheila 35,740
86 Mike 34,645 Maria 35,571
87 Andrew 34,618 Laura 35,071
88 Jeffrey 34,342 Kathy 34,766
89 Leroy 33,863 Eileen 34,694
90 Alfred 31,997 Marcia 34,395
91 Martin 31,401 Rosemary 34,296
92 Lee 30,978 Glenda 33,348
93 Tom 29,884 Dolores 33,099
94 Ray 29,655 Mildred 33,069
95 Herbert 28,708 Lorraine 33,047
96 Gene 27,740 Marjorie 32,901
97 Bernard 26,446 Sherry 32,759
98 Theodore 26,248 Kay 32,654
99 Curtis 26,008 Anita 32,530
100 Keith 25,870 Dianne 32,297
101 Clifford 25,822 Ruby 31,873
102 Rodney 24,846 Irene 31,822
103 Gordon 24,468 Juanita 30,444
104 Jimmie 24,360 Maureen 30,262
105 Jesse 24,336 Loretta 30,120
106 Vincent 23,897 Jeanne 30,116
107 Warren 23,739 Constance 29,912
108 Lloyd 23,603 Lynn 29,387
109 Leon 23,577 Marlene 29,294
110 Jerome 23,110 Arlene 29,092
111 Edwin 22,975 Delores 28,504
112 Brian 22,794 Lynda 27,952
113 Victor 22,520 Julia 27,890
114 Bob 21,376 Marsha 27,414
115 Floyd 20,996 Charlene 26,782
116 Lewis 20,931 June 25,167
117 Harvey 20,763 Jeanette 24,728
118 Alvin 20,719 Edna 24,699
119 Clyde 20,710 Josephine 24,324
120 Craig 20,289 Eleanor 23,761
121 Vernon 20,038 Yvonne 23,673
122 Leslie 19,389 Vicki 23,493
123 Franklin 19,311 Vivian 22,913
124 Calvin 19,241 Emma 22,787
125 Jon 19,034 Georgia 22,393
126 Jay 18,656 Lillian 22,314
127 Charlie 18,264 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 17,774 Lucille 20,453
133 Joel 17,424 Florence 20,394
134 Gilbert 17,353 Sara 20,275
135 Benjamin 17,183 Margie 20,262
136 Lester 17,081 Thelma 20,229
137 Duane 17,071 Clara 20,028
138 Leo 16,962 Audrey 19,717
139 Tony 16,960 Grace 19,369
140 Herman 16,856 Teresa 19,330
141 Jose 16,818 Annette 19,179
142 Glen 16,552 Claudia 19,174
143 Johnnie 16,423 Gladys 19,063
144 Dean 16,356 Julie 19,036
145 Arnold 16,038 Marion 18,490
146 Lonnie 15,901 Gwendolyn 18,344
147 Christopher 15,865 Priscilla 18,125
148 Nicholas 15,503 Willie 18,098
149 Freddie 15,376 Esther 17,639
150 Chester 15,286 Eva 17,561
151 Eric 15,192 Andrea 17,061
152 Milton 14,879 Maryann 17,053
153 Cecil 14,837 Bernice 17,031
154 Lynn 14,203 Rosa 16,796
155 Manuel 14,186 Hazel 16,657
156 Randy 14,164 Billie 16,371
157 Roland 13,093 Bertha 16,225
158 Ted 13,027 Gayle 16,198
159 Dwight 12,864 Bobbie 16,197
160 Claude 12,820 Pat 16,150
161 Wesley 12,465 Maxine 16,070
162 Neil 12,427 Marian 16,041
163 Sam 12,351 Ella 15,977
164 Scott 12,162 Paulette 15,902
165 Dave 11,740 Joy 15,565
166 Wallace 11,465 Beatrice 15,560
167 Kevin 11,271 Cathy 15,550
168 Hugh 10,998 Lillie 15,358
169 Donnie 10,987 Janis 14,862
170 Elmer 10,879 Leslie 14,856
171 Micheal 10,619 Ida 14,291
172 Willard 10,602 Lynne 14,236
173 Juan 10,556 Deanna 13,739
174 Maurice 10,477 Faye 13,711
175 Jessie 10,322 Terry 13,698
176 Garry 10,318 Valerie 13,694
177 Marshall 10,241 Emily 13,409
178 Oscar 10,189 Rachel 13,409
179 Edgar 9,804 Lucy 13,128
180 Karl 9,724 Janie 13,119
181 Marion 9,668 Penny 13,113
182 Sidney 9,609 Jackie 13,089
183 Stuart 9,525 Harriet 12,924
184 Nathaniel 9,490 Regina 12,713
185 Alexander 9,477 Rosalie 12,587
186 Sammy 9,360 Alma 12,400
187 Everett 9,314 Angela 12,258
188 Benny 9,302 Vera 12,189
189 Guy 8,953 Jessie 12,150
190 Virgil 8,950 Marianne 11,946
191 Morris 8,805 Stephanie 11,936
192 Matthew 8,760 Jill 11,865
193 Earnest 8,706 Mattie 11,781
194 Lyle 8,618 Minnie 11,736
195 Max 8,526 Caroline 11,625
196 Bennie 8,480 Michele 11,606
197 Wendell 8,378 Veronica 11,528
198 Kent 8,346 Patty 11,417
199 Jonathan 8,297 Rosie 11,403
200 Fredrick 8,232 Stella 11,363
Source: 100% sample based on Social Security card application data as of of March 2025. See the limitations of this data source.