Most popular baby names of the 1940s
In the 1940s, the most popular name for girls born in the U.S. was Mary, given to 640,080 girls, about 1 in 23 girls born that decade. For boys it was James, given to 795,775, about 1 in 19 boys.
Together, the top 20 girls’ names went to 35% of girls born in the 1940s, and the top 20 boys’ names to 48% of boys.
Top girls’ names
| Rank | Name | Babies | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Mary | 640,080 | 1 in 23 |
| #2 | Linda | 531,660 | 1 in 27 |
| #3 | Barbara | 425,271 | 1 in 34 |
| #4 | Patricia | 411,412 | 1 in 35 |
| #5 | Carol | 292,333 | 1 in 50 |
| #6 | Sandra | 265,538 | 1 in 55 |
| #7 | Nancy | 252,061 | 1 in 57 |
| #8 | Sharon | 221,237 | 1 in 65 |
| #9 | Judith | 218,037 | 1 in 66 |
| #10 | Susan | 212,016 | 1 in 68 |
| #11 | Betty | 194,623 | 1 in 74 |
| #12 | Carolyn | 181,858 | 1 in 80 |
| #13 | Margaret | 173,028 | 1 in 84 |
| #14 | Shirley | 171,780 | 1 in 84 |
| #15 | Judy | 167,719 | 1 in 86 |
| #16 | Karen | 167,700 | 1 in 86 |
| #17 | Donna | 165,523 | 1 in 88 |
| #18 | Kathleen | 152,981 | 1 in 95 |
| #19 | Joyce | 151,494 | 1 in 96 |
| #20 | Dorothy | 132,257 | 1 in 110 |
Top boys’ names
| Rank | Name | Babies | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | James | 795,775 | 1 in 19 |
| #2 | Robert | 758,126 | 1 in 20 |
| #3 | John | 711,614 | 1 in 21 |
| #4 | William | 556,478 | 1 in 27 |
| #5 | Richard | 477,476 | 1 in 31 |
| #6 | David | 426,372 | 1 in 35 |
| #7 | Charles | 361,772 | 1 in 41 |
| #8 | Thomas | 350,775 | 1 in 42 |
| #9 | Michael | 336,568 | 1 in 44 |
| #10 | Ronald | 282,489 | 1 in 53 |
| #11 | Larry | 255,908 | 1 in 58 |
| #12 | Donald | 247,834 | 1 in 60 |
| #13 | Joseph | 230,285 | 1 in 65 |
| #14 | Gary | 217,772 | 1 in 68 |
| #15 | George | 209,013 | 1 in 71 |
| #16 | Kenneth | 198,553 | 1 in 75 |
| #17 | Paul | 183,364 | 1 in 81 |
| #18 | Edward | 174,801 | 1 in 85 |
| #19 | Jerry | 167,257 | 1 in 89 |
| #20 | Dennis | 162,114 | 1 in 92 |
What changed
10 of the decade’s top 20 girls’ names were not in the top 20 of the 1930s: Linda, Sandra, Sharon, Judith, Susan, Carolyn, Judy, Karen, Donna and Kathleen. 5 of the decade’s top 20 boys’ names were not in the top 20 of the 1930s: Michael, Larry, Gary, Jerry and Dennis.
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.