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Most popular baby names of the 1930s

In the 1930s, the most popular name for girls born in the U.S. was Mary, given to 573,000 girls, about 1 in 19 girls born that decade. For boys it was Robert, given to 590,810, about 1 in 18 boys.

Together, the top 20 girls’ names went to 32% of girls born in the 1930s, and the top 20 boys’ names to 45% of boys.

Top girls’ names

Top girls’ names of the 1930s
RankNameBabiesShare
#1Mary573,0001 in 19
#2Betty300,4091 in 35
#3Barbara296,4201 in 36
#4Shirley229,3801 in 46
#5Patricia220,5821 in 48
#6Dorothy210,4151 in 51
#7Joan173,4391 in 61
#8Margaret157,3691 in 68
#9Nancy142,4881 in 75
#10Helen140,4261 in 76
#11Carol117,7311 in 91
#12Joyce115,5061 in 92
#13Doris110,6581 in 96
#14Ruth109,2041 in 98
#15Virginia103,0891 in 100
#16Marilyn98,5311 in 110
#17Elizabeth96,4801 in 110
#18Jean94,1891 in 110
#19Frances92,1171 in 120
#20Beverly80,8461 in 130

Top boys’ names

Top boys’ names of the 1930s
RankNameBabiesShare
#1Robert590,8101 in 18
#2James547,4791 in 19
#3John487,9501 in 22
#4William416,7301 in 25
#5Richard330,5021 in 32
#6Charles303,2181 in 35
#7Donald283,7181 in 37
#8George192,2891 in 55
#9Thomas183,8781 in 57
#10Joseph180,5661 in 59
#11David164,7011 in 64
#12Edward147,8491 in 71
#13Ronald140,3321 in 75
#14Paul125,7741 in 84
#15Kenneth125,1111 in 84
#16Frank108,0901 in 98
#17Raymond99,5851 in 110
#18Jack96,3961 in 110
#19Harold95,4671 in 110
#20Billy88,3411 in 120

What changed

7 of the decade’s top 20 girls’ names were not in the top 20 of the 1920s: Patricia, Joan, Nancy, Carol, Joyce, Marilyn and Beverly. 3 of the decade’s top 20 boys’ names were not in the top 20 of the 1920s: David, Ronald and Billy.

Each table ranks names by how many babies of that sex got the name across the decade’s years in Social Security’s data, with the share of all babies of that sex it went to. A name links to its own page when it has one, with its births and rank in every year since 1880.

Source: the U.S. Social Security Administration’s national baby name data, from Social Security card applications for babies born in the U.S. A name is left out of a year when fewer than 5 babies of one sex got it, and counts before about 1937 are incomplete, because many people born then never applied for a card. See how Baby Boom builds its data. Figures may contain errors.