Most Popular Baby Names of 1947

In 1947, Linda was the most popular name for girls, given to 99,692 babies, and James topped the boys' list with 94,767. Linda took the top spot from Mary, and James held on to number one for a eighth year in a row.

Social Security counted 1,772,766 girls and 1,829,599 boys born in 1947 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 6,104 different girls' names and 4,266 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1947

Top girls' names, 1947
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1946
1	Linda	99,692	up 1
2	Mary	71,690	down 1
3	Patricia	51,278	same
4	Barbara	48,800	same
5	Sandra	34,779	up 1
6	Carol	33,543	down 1
7	Nancy	32,445	same
8	Susan	31,952	same
9	Sharon	28,533	same
10	Donna	23,517	up 3
11	Kathleen	22,095	up 5
12	Judith	21,996	down 2
13	Karen	21,648	up 2
14	Judy	21,037	down 3
15	Carolyn	20,742	down 3
16	Margaret	20,101	up 1
17	Betty	18,966	down 3
18	Diane	17,775	up 1
19	Shirley	17,648	down 1
20	Joyce	15,915	same
21	Brenda	15,830	up 3
22	Janice	15,409	same
23	Janet	15,236	down 2
24	Cheryl	13,890	up 3
25	Elizabeth	13,440	same
26	Dorothy	12,753	down 3
27	Gloria	12,627	down 1
28	Pamela	12,398	up 6
29	Marilyn	11,881	same
30	Joan	11,277	down 2
31	Beverly	11,205	down 1
32	Martha	10,651	same
33	Cynthia	10,530	up 13
34	Virginia	10,407	down 3
35	Bonnie	10,214	down 2
36	Jane	9,943	down 1
37	Phyllis	9,187	up 4
38	Helen	8,979	down 2
39	Frances	8,943	same
40	Jean	8,940	down 3
41	Ann	8,894	down 1
42	Peggy	8,877	up 1
43	Connie	8,645	up 2
44	Ruth	8,482	down 6
45	Christine	8,379	up 5
46	Catherine	7,889	up 2
47	Alice	7,849	down 3
48	Diana	7,622	down 6
49	Gail	7,242	same
50	Elaine	7,059	down 3
51	Jo	6,724	up 2
52	Rebecca	6,333	up 16
53	Suzanne	6,231	down 1
54	Paula	6,102	up 15
55	Kathryn	6,091	up 8
56	Joanne	6,062	up 1
57	Marie	6,057	down 3
58	Doris	6,029	down 7
59	Jacqueline	6,011	up 3
60	Rita	5,982	down 4
61	Ellen	5,856	down 3
62	Deborah	5,837	up 57
63	Lois	5,717	down 8
64	Kathy	5,697	up 15
65	Rose	5,654	down 5
66	Wanda	5,649	down 7
67	Sherry	5,579	up 6
68	Charlotte	5,386	down 4
69	Sue	5,306	down 8
70	Sally	5,265	down 3
71	Darlene	5,255	same
72	Evelyn	5,243	down 7
73	Sheila	5,095	down 3
74	Laura	5,051	up 1
75	Lynn	4,994	up 19
76	Katherine	4,884	up 2
77	Lynda	4,840	up 32
78	Geraldine	4,811	down 12
79	Maria	4,712	up 9
80	Rosemary	4,542	down 6
81	Marcia	4,472	up 8
82	Norma	4,425	down 5
83	Dianne	4,415	down 7
84	Lorraine	4,414	up 9
85	Theresa	4,390	up 11
86	Jeanne	4,364	down 3
87	Patsy	4,344	down 2
88	Marsha	4,339	up 10
89	Joann	4,276	up 1
90	Roberta	4,261	down 4
91	Eileen	4,251	down 11
92	Anna	4,238	down 5
93	Sarah	4,223	down 1
94	Anita	4,187	down 10
95	Anne	4,187	down 14
96	Glenda	4,156	up 3
97	Sylvia	4,100	down 15
98	Maureen	4,085	down 3
99	Louise	4,050	down 8
100	Constance	3,894	same

Top boys' names, 1947
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1946
1	James	94,767	same
2	Robert	91,655	same
3	John	88,324	same
4	William	67,002	same
5	Richard	58,532	same
6	David	57,810	same
7	Michael	50,506	same
8	Thomas	44,842	same
9	Charles	40,781	same
10	Larry	34,946	up 1
11	Ronald	34,899	down 1
12	Gary	30,029	same
13	Donald	28,260	same
14	Joseph	27,520	same
15	Kenneth	24,586	same
16	George	23,916	same
17	Dennis	23,686	same
18	Paul	22,796	same
19	Edward	20,539	same
20	Jerry	18,794	same
21	Stephen	15,328	up 3
22	Daniel	15,189	down 1
23	Frank	13,994	down 1
24	Steven	13,528	up 4
25	Roger	12,760	down 2
26	Terry	12,751	same
27	Raymond	12,352	down 2
28	Gerald	10,750	down 1
29	Bruce	10,524	up 3
30	Wayne	10,169	down 1
31	Douglas	9,895	up 3
32	Lawrence	9,582	down 1
33	Gregory	9,327	up 23
34	Walter	9,218	down 4
35	Harold	8,904	down 2
36	Peter	8,590	up 2
37	Jack	8,507	down 2
38	Arthur	8,255	down 2
39	Danny	8,069	up 7
40	Carl	8,050	down 1
41	Anthony	8,014	up 3
42	Willie	7,997	down 2
43	Joe	7,904	down 6
44	Jimmy	7,881	down 2
45	Alan	7,823	up 4
46	Henry	7,807	down 5
47	Mark	7,773	up 11
48	Roy	7,560	down 5
49	Johnny	7,441	down 2
50	Ralph	7,389	down 2
51	Billy	6,933	down 6
52	Timothy	6,747	up 8
53	Patrick	6,622	up 6
54	Harry	6,515	down 4
55	Albert	6,462	down 3
56	Fred	6,392	down 5
57	Philip	6,235	up 4
58	Steve	6,231	up 11
59	Eugene	6,178	down 2
60	Bobby	6,116	down 7
61	Ronnie	6,110	down 7
62	Howard	6,061	down 7
63	Dale	5,936	down 1
64	Louis	5,778	down 1
65	Mike	5,750	down 1
66	Jeffrey	5,665	up 12
67	Stanley	5,501	down 2
68	Barry	5,472	same
69	Russell	5,270	down 3
70	Glenn	5,157	up 11
71	Leonard	5,155	down 4
72	Samuel	5,110	down 2
73	Allen	5,075	up 1
74	Phillip	4,789	up 9
75	Ernest	4,787	down 4
76	Bill	4,681	down 4
77	Jim	4,640	down 4
78	Frederick	4,637	down 3
79	Tommy	4,594	down 2
80	Eddie	4,457	up 5
81	Norman	4,410	down 5
82	Andrew	4,346	up 2
83	Earl	4,242	down 1
84	Francis	4,208	down 4
85	Melvin	4,169	up 1
86	Don	4,007	down 7
87	Tom	3,922	same
88	Clarence	3,921	up 1
89	Marvin	3,773	down 1
90	Martin	3,724	up 2
91	Keith	3,684	up 5
92	Lee	3,676	down 1
93	Craig	3,640	up 15
94	Rodney	3,564	down 1
95	Brian	3,450	up 8
96	Alfred	3,417	down 2
97	Ray	3,379	down 2
98	Leroy	3,347	down 8
99	Curtis	3,037	same
100	Bernard	2,994	up 2

Biggest climbers in 1947

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1946.

Girls

Carlotta: up 386 places, from 998th to 612th
Robyn: up 245 places, from 694th to 449th
Jody: up 226 places, from 770th to 544th
Luana: up 220 places, from 871st to 651st
Karyn: up 218 places, from 831st to 613th
Cinda: up 209 places, from 857th to 648th
Debby: up 193 places, from 961st to 768th
Kimberly: up 187 places, from 709th to 522nd
Kristen: up 181 places, from 859th to 678th
Rene: up 180 places, from 837th to 657th

Boys

Jody: up 358 places, from 940th to 582nd
Brett: up 262 places, from 969th to 707th
Cleve: up 217 places, from 986th to 769th
Sean: up 190 places, from 895th to 705th
Vince: up 155 places, from 976th to 821st
Rocky: up 150 places, from 653rd to 503rd
Patsy: up 144 places, from 962nd to 818th
Linda: up 143 places, from 601st to 458th
Carlo: up 135 places, from 936th to 801st
Marcel: up 133 places, from 833rd to 700th

New to the top 1,000 in 1947

Girls

Ivy, 800th (back after dropping out)
Cassie, 815th (back after dropping out)
Michaele, 859th (its first time ever)
Rosanna, 874th (back after dropping out)
Kris, 876th (its first time ever)
Nannette, 879th (back after dropping out)
Trudi, 881st (its first time ever)
Janna, 887th (its first time ever)
Sandie, 897th (its first time ever)
Clarissa, 898th (back after dropping out)

Boys

Unknown, 697th (back after dropping out)
Rory, 813th (its first time ever)
Farrell, 825th (back after dropping out)
Deane, 836th (back after dropping out)
Terrill, 838th (back after dropping out)
Marco, 841st (back after dropping out)
Darell, 845th (back after dropping out)
Jacques, 848th (back after dropping out)
Rollie, 851st (back after dropping out)
Geary, 863rd (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1947?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 25.7% of the girls counted in 1947, and the top ten boys' names to 34.4% of the boys. In 1927, those shares were 22.4% for girls and 33.2% for boys.

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.