Top names of the 1940s

The following table shows the 200 most popular given names for boy and girl 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 15,157,763 boy births and 14,895,005 girl births
Popular names of the period 1940s
Boys Girls
Rank Name Number Name Number
1 James 795,775 Mary 640,080
2 Robert 758,126 Linda 531,660
3 John 711,614 Barbara 425,271
4 William 556,478 Patricia 411,412
5 Richard 477,476 Carol 292,333
6 David 426,372 Sandra 265,538
7 Charles 361,772 Nancy 252,061
8 Thomas 350,775 Sharon 221,237
9 Michael 336,568 Judith 218,037
10 Ronald 282,489 Susan 212,016
11 Larry 255,908 Betty 194,623
12 Donald 247,834 Carolyn 181,858
13 Joseph 230,285 Margaret 173,028
14 Gary 217,772 Shirley 171,780
15 George 209,013 Judy 167,719
16 Kenneth 198,553 Karen 167,700
17 Paul 183,364 Donna 165,523
18 Edward 174,801 Kathleen 152,981
19 Jerry 167,257 Joyce 151,494
20 Dennis 162,114 Dorothy 132,257
21 Frank 119,417 Janet 130,755
22 Daniel 112,778 Diane 122,878
23 Raymond 109,076 Janice 118,893
24 Roger 107,602 Joan 117,708
25 Stephen 106,812 Elizabeth 116,551
26 Gerald 103,342 Brenda 112,415
27 Walter 83,728 Gloria 105,055
28 Harold 82,176 Virginia 99,000
29 Steven 81,204 Marilyn 98,977
30 Douglas 80,760 Martha 95,384
31 Lawrence 80,461 Beverly 95,122
32 Terry 76,965 Helen 90,742
33 Wayne 75,131 Bonnie 86,886
34 Arthur 73,968 Ruth 85,666
35 Jack 73,919 Frances 85,448
36 Carl 72,739 Jean 80,363
37 Henry 72,488 Ann 76,797
38 Willie 72,422 Phyllis 76,143
39 Bruce 72,097 Pamela 73,121
40 Joe 72,015 Jane 72,537
41 Peter 69,330 Alice 72,392
42 Billy 67,833 Peggy 72,122
43 Roy 65,648 Cheryl 70,959
44 Ralph 64,983 Doris 64,144
45 Anthony 64,825 Catherine 62,086
46 Jimmy 63,523 Elaine 60,105
47 Albert 60,278 Cynthia 58,061
48 Bobby 58,890 Marie 57,521
49 Eugene 57,275 Lois 56,854
50 Johnny 57,200 Connie 56,604
51 Fred 56,665 Christine 54,565
52 Harry 56,245 Diana 53,698
53 Howard 53,530 Gail 53,140
54 Mark 50,731 Joanne 51,655
55 Alan 50,302 Rose 51,643
56 Louis 49,430 Wanda 50,775
57 Philip 48,735 Carole 50,303
58 Patrick 48,619 Rita 49,853
59 Dale 46,815 Charlotte 49,478
60 Danny 46,661 Jo 48,449
61 Stanley 46,263 Evelyn 48,157
62 Leonard 44,289 Geraldine 47,933
63 Timothy 43,503 Jacqueline 45,559
64 Gregory 43,222 Ellen 45,404
65 Samuel 43,129 Sally 45,344
66 Ronnie 42,456 Rebecca 45,313
67 Norman 42,164 Kathryn 44,581
68 Ernest 41,762 Deborah 44,054
69 Russell 41,336 Norma 43,030
70 Francis 39,519 Suzanne 41,405
71 Melvin 39,236 Anna 41,282
72 Earl 39,128 Sue 40,943
73 Frederick 39,114 Darlene 40,321
74 Allen 39,049 Patsy 40,282
75 Bill 37,756 Joann 40,015
76 Tommy 37,046 Sarah 39,977
77 Phillip 36,989 Katherine 39,912
78 Marvin 36,445 Paula 39,044
79 Steve 36,286 Annie 38,714
80 Don 36,255 Louise 38,665
81 Clarence 36,197 Roberta 38,051
82 Barry 36,192 Sylvia 37,288
83 Glenn 35,717 Anne 36,146
84 Jim 35,632 Theresa 35,789
85 Eddie 34,807 Sheila 35,740
86 Mike 34,645 Maria 35,571
87 Andrew 34,618 Laura 35,071
88 Jeffrey 34,340 Kathy 34,766
89 Leroy 33,864 Eileen 34,695
90 Alfred 31,998 Marcia 34,397
91 Martin 31,402 Rosemary 34,297
92 Lee 30,978 Glenda 33,348
93 Tom 29,884 Dolores 33,099
94 Ray 29,656 Mildred 33,071
95 Herbert 28,710 Lorraine 33,047
96 Gene 27,739 Marjorie 32,901
97 Bernard 26,446 Sherry 32,759
98 Theodore 26,249 Kay 32,654
99 Curtis 26,009 Anita 32,531
100 Keith 25,871 Dianne 32,296
101 Clifford 25,823 Ruby 31,872
102 Rodney 24,846 Irene 31,822
103 Gordon 24,468 Juanita 30,443
104 Jimmie 24,360 Maureen 30,262
105 Jesse 24,336 Loretta 30,121
106 Vincent 23,897 Jeanne 30,117
107 Warren 23,740 Constance 29,912
108 Lloyd 23,603 Lynn 29,387
109 Leon 23,578 Marlene 29,295
110 Jerome 23,110 Arlene 29,093
111 Edwin 22,977 Delores 28,504
112 Brian 22,793 Lynda 27,952
113 Victor 22,518 Julia 27,891
114 Bob 21,376 Marsha 27,414
115 Floyd 20,998 Charlene 26,782
116 Lewis 20,931 June 25,168
117 Harvey 20,763 Jeanette 24,727
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 19,312 Vivian 22,913
124 Calvin 19,242 Emma 22,788
125 Jon 19,033 Georgia 22,393
126 Jay 18,655 Lillian 22,315
127 Charlie 18,264 Edith 22,149
128 Darrell 18,225 Pauline 21,912
129 Jackie 18,125 Wilma 21,192
130 Dan 18,017 Victoria 20,752
131 Allan 17,830 Ethel 20,582
132 Randall 17,774 Lucille 20,453
133 Joel 17,424 Florence 20,393
134 Gilbert 17,353 Sara 20,275
135 Benjamin 17,184 Margie 20,261
136 Lester 17,082 Thelma 20,229
137 Duane 17,072 Clara 20,028
138 Leo 16,962 Audrey 19,718
139 Tony 16,960 Grace 19,370
140 Herman 16,856 Teresa 19,329
141 Jose 16,818 Annette 19,179
142 Glen 16,553 Claudia 19,174
143 Johnnie 16,422 Gladys 19,063
144 Dean 16,356 Julie 19,035
145 Arnold 16,036 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 15,377 Esther 17,639
150 Chester 15,287 Eva 17,561
151 Eric 15,190 Andrea 17,061
152 Milton 14,879 Maryann 17,053
153 Cecil 14,837 Bernice 17,032
154 Lynn 14,203 Rosa 16,796
155 Manuel 14,186 Hazel 16,657
156 Randy 14,165 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 12,161 Paulette 15,902
165 Dave 11,740 Joy 15,564
166 Wallace 11,464 Beatrice 15,560
167 Kevin 11,268 Cathy 15,550
168 Hugh 10,998 Lillie 15,357
169 Donnie 10,986 Janis 14,862
170 Elmer 10,879 Leslie 14,856
171 Micheal 10,619 Ida 14,291
172 Willard 10,603 Lynne 14,235
173 Juan 10,557 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 10,188 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 9,608 Jackie 13,090
183 Stuart 9,525 Harriet 12,925
184 Nathaniel 9,489 Regina 12,713
185 Alexander 9,477 Rosalie 12,587
186 Sammy 9,360 Alma 12,401
187 Everett 9,314 Angela 12,256
188 Benny 9,303 Vera 12,189
189 Guy 8,954 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 8,296 Rosie 11,403
200 Fredrick 8,232 Stella 11,363
Source: 100% sample based on Social Security card application data as of of March 2026. See the limitations of this data source.