Most Popular Baby Names of the 1940s

Across the 1940s, Mary was the most popular girls' name, given to 640,080 babies, and James led the boys with 795,775.

That's out of 14,484,828 girls and 14,886,857 boys counted between 1940 and 1949, under 9,684 different girls' names and 6,613 boys' names.

Number one, year by year

Most popular names each year, 1940 to 1949
Year	Girls	Boys
1940	Mary	James
1941	Mary	James
1942	Mary	James
1943	Mary	James
1944	Mary	James
1945	Mary	James
1946	Mary	James
1947	Linda	James
1948	Linda	James
1949	Linda	James

Top 100 names of the 1940s

Top girls' names, 1940–1949
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1930s
1	Mary	640,080	same
2	Linda	531,660	up 87
3	Barbara	425,271	same
4	Patricia	411,412	up 1
5	Carol	292,333	up 6
6	Sandra	265,538	up 42
7	Nancy	252,061	up 2
8	Sharon	221,237	up 75
9	Judith	218,037	up 31
10	Susan	212,016	not top 100 in 1930s
11	Betty	194,623	down 9
12	Carolyn	181,858	up 17
13	Margaret	173,028	down 5
14	Shirley	171,780	down 10
15	Judy	167,719	not top 100 in 1930s
16	Karen	167,700	not top 100 in 1930s
17	Donna	165,523	up 6
18	Kathleen	152,981	up 54
19	Joyce	151,494	down 7
20	Dorothy	132,257	down 14
21	Janet	130,755	up 5
22	Diane	122,878	not top 100 in 1930s
23	Janice	118,893	up 19
24	Joan	117,708	down 17
25	Elizabeth	116,551	down 8
26	Brenda	112,415	not top 100 in 1930s
27	Gloria	105,055	up 4
28	Virginia	99,000	down 13
29	Marilyn	98,977	down 13
30	Martha	95,384	down 6
31	Beverly	95,122	down 11
32	Helen	90,742	down 22
33	Bonnie	86,886	up 33
34	Ruth	85,666	down 20
35	Frances	85,448	down 16
36	Jean	80,363	down 18
37	Ann	76,797	down 3
38	Phyllis	76,143	down 11
39	Pamela	73,121	not top 100 in 1930s
40	Jane	72,537	up 7
41	Alice	72,392	down 19
42	Peggy	72,122	down 5
43	Cheryl	70,959	not top 100 in 1930s
44	Doris	64,144	down 31
45	Catherine	62,086	down 6
46	Elaine	60,105	up 5
47	Cynthia	58,061	not top 100 in 1930s
48	Marie	57,521	down 15
49	Lois	56,854	down 28
50	Connie	56,604	not top 100 in 1930s
51	Christine	54,565	not top 100 in 1930s
52	Diana	53,698	not top 100 in 1930s
53	Gail	53,140	not top 100 in 1930s
54	Joanne	51,655	down 1
55	Rose	51,643	down 19
56	Wanda	50,775	down 6
57	Carole	50,303	up 37
58	Rita	49,853	down 4
59	Charlotte	49,478	up 12
60	Jo	48,449	up 30
61	Evelyn	48,157	down 31
62	Geraldine	47,933	down 24
63	Jacqueline	45,559	up 15
64	Ellen	45,404	up 34
65	Sally	45,344	up 5
66	Rebecca	45,313	not top 100 in 1930s
67	Kathryn	44,581	not top 100 in 1930s
68	Deborah	44,054	not top 100 in 1930s
69	Norma	43,030	down 41
70	Suzanne	41,405	not top 100 in 1930s
71	Anna	41,282	down 39
72	Sue	40,943	not top 100 in 1930s
73	Darlene	40,321	up 22
74	Patsy	40,282	down 13
75	Joann	40,015	down 6
76	Sarah	39,977	down 16
77	Katherine	39,912	up 20
78	Paula	39,044	not top 100 in 1930s
79	Annie	38,714	down 35
80	Louise	38,665	down 39
81	Roberta	38,051	up 12
82	Sylvia	37,288	down 6
83	Anne	36,146	up 8
84	Theresa	35,789	down 7
85	Sheila	35,740	not top 100 in 1930s
86	Maria	35,571	not top 100 in 1930s
87	Laura	35,071	up 12
88	Kathy	34,766	not top 100 in 1930s
89	Eileen	34,695	not top 100 in 1930s
90	Marcia	34,397	not top 100 in 1930s
91	Rosemary	34,297	not top 100 in 1930s
92	Glenda	33,348	not top 100 in 1930s
93	Dolores	33,099	down 68
94	Mildred	33,071	down 59
95	Lorraine	33,047	down 33
96	Marjorie	32,901	down 53
97	Sherry	32,759	not top 100 in 1930s
98	Kay	32,654	not top 100 in 1930s
99	Anita	32,531	not top 100 in 1930s
100	Dianne	32,296	not top 100 in 1930s

Top boys' names, 1940–1949
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1930s
1	James	795,775	up 1
2	Robert	758,126	down 1
3	John	711,614	same
4	William	556,478	same
5	Richard	477,476	same
6	David	426,372	up 5
7	Charles	361,772	down 1
8	Thomas	350,775	up 1
9	Michael	336,568	up 26
10	Ronald	282,489	up 3
11	Larry	255,908	up 19
12	Donald	247,834	down 5
13	Joseph	230,285	down 3
14	Gary	217,772	up 31
15	George	209,013	down 7
16	Kenneth	198,553	down 1
17	Paul	183,364	down 3
18	Edward	174,801	down 6
19	Jerry	167,257	up 4
20	Dennis	162,114	up 51
21	Frank	119,417	down 5
22	Daniel	112,778	up 20
23	Raymond	109,076	down 6
24	Roger	107,602	up 17
25	Stephen	106,812	not top 100 in 1930s
26	Gerald	103,342	down 5
27	Walter	83,728	down 5
28	Harold	82,176	down 9
29	Steven	81,204	not top 100 in 1930s
30	Douglas	80,760	up 42
31	Lawrence	80,461	up 5
32	Terry	76,965	not top 100 in 1930s
33	Wayne	75,131	up 16
34	Arthur	73,968	down 6
35	Jack	73,919	down 17
36	Carl	72,739	down 7
37	Henry	72,488	down 11
38	Willie	72,422	down 5
39	Bruce	72,097	up 42
40	Joe	72,015	down 16
41	Peter	69,330	up 17
42	Billy	67,833	down 22
43	Roy	65,648	down 4
44	Ralph	64,983	down 13
45	Anthony	64,825	up 2
46	Jimmy	63,523	up 13
47	Albert	60,278	down 15
48	Bobby	58,890	down 21
49	Eugene	57,275	down 24
50	Johnny	57,200	up 28
51	Fred	56,665	down 17
52	Harry	56,245	down 15
53	Howard	53,530	down 15
54	Mark	50,731	not top 100 in 1930s
55	Alan	50,302	not top 100 in 1930s
56	Louis	49,430	down 13
57	Philip	48,735	up 10
58	Patrick	48,619	not top 100 in 1930s
59	Dale	46,815	up 2
60	Danny	46,661	not top 100 in 1930s
61	Stanley	46,263	down 6
62	Leonard	44,289	down 10
63	Timothy	43,503	not top 100 in 1930s
64	Gregory	43,222	not top 100 in 1930s
65	Samuel	43,129	down 2
66	Ronnie	42,456	not top 100 in 1930s
67	Norman	42,164	down 27
68	Ernest	41,762	down 17
69	Russell	41,336	down 1
70	Francis	39,519	down 22
71	Melvin	39,236	down 17
72	Earl	39,128	down 28
73	Frederick	39,114	down 4
74	Allen	39,049	up 5
75	Bill	37,756	down 13
76	Tommy	37,046	up 22
77	Phillip	36,989	not top 100 in 1930s
78	Marvin	36,445	down 28
79	Steve	36,286	not top 100 in 1930s
80	Don	36,255	down 23
81	Clarence	36,197	down 35
82	Barry	36,192	not top 100 in 1930s
83	Glenn	35,717	down 3
84	Jim	35,632	up 10
85	Eddie	34,807	up 5
86	Mike	34,645	not top 100 in 1930s
87	Andrew	34,618	down 12
88	Jeffrey	34,340	not top 100 in 1930s
89	Leroy	33,864	down 33
90	Alfred	31,998	down 30
91	Martin	31,402	up 1
92	Lee	30,978	down 9
93	Tom	29,884	not top 100 in 1930s
94	Ray	29,656	down 29
95	Herbert	28,710	down 42
96	Gene	27,739	down 30
97	Bernard	26,446	down 33
98	Theodore	26,249	down 22
99	Curtis	26,009	not top 100 in 1930s
100	Keith	25,871	not top 100 in 1930s

Names that peaked in the 1940s

These were among the decade's top 1,000 and reached their highest share of babies in a year between 1940 and 1949. The year each one peaked is in brackets.

Girls

Linda (1948)
Carol (1945)
Sandra (1946)
Nancy (1947)
Sharon (1943)
Judith (1940)
Carolyn (1942)
Judy (1946)
Kathleen (1949)
Joyce (1941)

Boys

James (1944)
Richard (1946)
Ronald (1943)
Larry (1947)
Jerry (1941)
Dennis (1946)
Roger (1945)
Douglas (1942)
Lawrence (1949)
Wayne (1947)

Source: Social Security Administration, national baby name data, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.