NameCensus.

Top baby names of the 1940s

The 50 most popular male and female first names born between 1940 and 1949, ranked by total SSA birth registrations for that decade. Each sparkline shows how the name moved year by year within the decade. Hover over a sparkline to see the exact count for any year.

Top 50 male names

  1. 1 James 795,767
  2. 2 Robert 758,115
  3. 3 John 711,600
  4. 4 William 556,469
  5. 5 Richard 477,472
  6. 6 David 426,365
  7. 7 Charles 361,760
  8. 8 Thomas 350,771
  9. 9 Michael 336,564
  10. 10 Ronald 282,478
  11. 11 Larry 255,907
  12. 12 Donald 247,829
  13. 13 Joseph 230,281
  14. 14 Gary 217,769
  15. 15 George 209,005
  16. 16 Kenneth 198,551
  17. 17 Paul 183,356
  18. 18 Edward 174,798
  19. 19 Jerry 167,250
  20. 20 Dennis 162,113
  21. 21 Frank 119,420
  22. 22 Daniel 112,776
  23. 23 Raymond 109,070
  24. 24 Roger 107,597
  25. 25 Stephen 106,810
  26. 26 Gerald 103,342
  27. 27 Walter 83,726
  28. 28 Harold 82,177
  29. 29 Steven 81,205
  30. 30 Douglas 80,757
  31. 31 Lawrence 80,459
  32. 32 Terry 76,966
  33. 33 Wayne 75,130
  34. 34 Arthur 73,966
  35. 35 Jack 73,920
  36. 36 Carl 72,739
  37. 37 Henry 72,486
  38. 38 Willie 72,419
  39. 39 Bruce 72,096
  40. 40 Joe 72,013
  41. 41 Peter 69,328
  42. 42 Billy 67,831
  43. 43 Roy 65,645
  44. 44 Ralph 64,980
  45. 45 Anthony 64,824
  46. 46 Jimmy 63,522
  47. 47 Albert 60,276
  48. 48 Bobby 58,890
  49. 49 Eugene 57,273
  50. 50 Johnny 57,199

Top 50 female names

  1. 1 Mary 640,070
  2. 2 Linda 531,658
  3. 3 Barbara 425,267
  4. 4 Patricia 411,412
  5. 5 Carol 292,330
  6. 6 Sandra 265,536
  7. 7 Nancy 252,058
  8. 8 Sharon 221,236
  9. 9 Judith 218,035
  10. 10 Susan 212,014
  11. 11 Betty 194,622
  12. 12 Carolyn 181,855
  13. 13 Margaret 173,025
  14. 14 Shirley 171,780
  15. 15 Judy 167,718
  16. 16 Karen 167,699
  17. 17 Donna 165,523
  18. 18 Kathleen 152,981
  19. 19 Joyce 151,493
  20. 20 Dorothy 132,255
  21. 21 Janet 130,754
  22. 22 Diane 122,877
  23. 23 Janice 118,892
  24. 24 Joan 117,708
  25. 25 Elizabeth 116,551
  26. 26 Brenda 112,414
  27. 27 Gloria 105,054
  28. 28 Virginia 98,998
  29. 29 Marilyn 98,977
  30. 30 Martha 95,386
  31. 31 Beverly 95,124
  32. 32 Helen 90,742
  33. 33 Bonnie 86,886
  34. 34 Ruth 85,664
  35. 35 Frances 85,447
  36. 36 Jean 80,364
  37. 37 Ann 76,797
  38. 38 Phyllis 76,142
  39. 39 Pamela 73,121
  40. 40 Jane 72,537
  41. 41 Alice 72,392
  42. 42 Peggy 72,121
  43. 43 Cheryl 70,959
  44. 44 Doris 64,142
  45. 45 Catherine 62,086
  46. 46 Elaine 60,104
  47. 47 Cynthia 58,060
  48. 48 Marie 57,521
  49. 49 Lois 56,854
  50. 50 Connie 56,604