Updated on July 22, 2019

 The following table shows the 200 most popular given names for male and female babies born during the 1940s. For each rank and sex, the table shows the name and the number of occurrences of that name. The 200 most popular names were taken from a universe that includes 15,146,031 male births and 14,891,059 female births.

Popular names of the 1940s
  Males Females
Rank Name Number Name Number
1 James 795,233 Mary 639,863
2 Robert 757,565 Linda 531,515
3 John 711,106 Barbara 425,141
4 William 556,025 Patricia 411,330
5 Richard 477,133 Carol 292,250
6 David 426,045 Sandra 265,466
7 Charles 361,473 Nancy 251,977
8 Thomas 350,579 Sharon 221,186
9 Michael 336,360 Judith 217,972
10 Ronald 282,239 Susan 211,961
11 Larry 255,706 Betty 194,585
12 Donald 247,598 Carolyn 181,806
13 Joseph 230,110 Margaret 172,982
14 Gary 217,579 Shirley 171,743
15 George 208,870 Judy 167,684
16 Kenneth 198,411 Karen 167,658
17 Paul 183,225 Donna 165,487
18 Edward 174,665 Kathleen 152,951
19 Jerry 167,096 Joyce 151,455
20 Dennis 161,981 Dorothy 132,208
21 Frank 119,325 Janet 130,729
22 Daniel 112,691 Diane 122,856
23 Raymond 108,978 Janice 118,865
24 Roger 107,506 Joan 117,668
25 Stephen 106,704 Elizabeth 116,512
26 Gerald 103,262 Brenda 112,397
27 Walter 83,686 Gloria 105,020
28 Harold 82,092 Virginia 98,966
29 Steven 81,167 Marilyn 98,944
30 Douglas 80,711 Martha 95,363
31 Lawrence 80,395 Beverly 95,104
32 Terry 76,898 Helen 90,720
33 Wayne 75,062 Bonnie 86,871
34 Arthur 73,934 Ruth 85,638
35 Jack 73,885 Frances 85,412
36 Carl 72,672 Jean 80,344
37 Henry 72,413 Ann 76,776
38 Willie 72,328 Phyllis 76,126
39 Bruce 72,049 Pamela 73,096
40 Joe 71,962 Jane 72,524
41 Peter 69,313 Alice 72,375
42 Billy 67,770 Peggy 72,093
43 Roy 65,577 Cheryl 70,932
44 Ralph 64,923 Doris 64,130
45 Anthony 64,793 Catherine 62,068
46 Jimmy 63,460 Elaine 60,092
47 Albert 60,222 Cynthia 58,050
48 Bobby 58,845 Marie 57,501
49 Eugene 57,222 Lois 56,850
50 Johnny 57,143 Connie 56,586
51 Fred 56,601 Christine 54,554
52 Harry 56,196 Diana 53,675
53 Howard 53,484 Gail 53,124
54 Mark 50,725 Joanne 51,644
55 Alan 50,272 Rose 51,627
56 Louis 49,393 Wanda 50,769
57 Philip 48,723 Carole 50,297
58 Patrick 48,571 Rita 49,840
59 Dale 46,780 Charlotte 49,462
60 Danny 46,632 Jo 48,439
61 Stanley 46,224 Evelyn 48,154
62 Leonard 44,239 Geraldine 47,921
63 Timothy 43,474 Jacqueline 45,555
64 Gregory 43,206 Ellen 45,396
65 Samuel 43,110 Sally 45,337
66 Ronnie 42,430 Rebecca 45,299
67 Norman 42,149 Kathryn 44,570
68 Ernest 41,716 Deborah 44,048
69 Russell 41,295 Norma 43,016
70 Francis 39,497 Suzanne 41,389
71 Melvin 39,195 Anna 41,288
72 Earl 39,100 Sue 40,933
73 Frederick 39,070 Darlene 40,314
74 Allen 39,035 Patsy 40,272
75 Bill 37,746 Joann 40,012
76 Tommy 37,006 Sarah 39,954
77 Phillip 36,972 Katherine 39,908
78 Marvin 36,405 Paula 39,031
79 Steve 36,266 Annie 38,686
80 Don 36,216 Louise 38,644
81 Clarence 36,163 Roberta 38,040
82 Barry 36,161 Sylvia 37,280
83 Glenn 35,690 Anne 36,150
84 Jim 35,612 Theresa 35,778
85 Eddie 34,771 Sheila 35,728
86 Mike 34,613 Maria 35,553
87 Andrew 34,599 Laura 35,060
88 Jeffrey 34,314 Kathy 34,766
89 Leroy 33,833 Eileen 34,682
90 Alfred 31,974 Marcia 34,389
91 Martin 31,393 Rosemary 34,290
92 Lee 30,968 Glenda 33,341
93 Tom 29,865 Dolores 33,086
94 Ray 29,633 Mildred 33,066
95 Herbert 28,685 Lorraine 33,040
96 Gene 27,727 Marjorie 32,893
97 Bernard 26,424 Sherry 32,747
98 Theodore 26,217 Kay 32,649
99 Curtis 25,993 Anita 32,519
100 Keith 25,857 Dianne 32,288
101 Clifford 25,805 Ruby 31,854
102 Rodney 24,827 Irene 31,811
103 Gordon 24,441 Juanita 30,432
104 Jimmie 24,324 Maureen 30,255
105 Jesse 24,318 Loretta 30,117
106 Vincent 23,897 Jeanne 30,107
107 Warren 23,709 Constance 29,902
108 Lloyd 23,583 Lynn 29,384
109 Leon 23,565 Marlene 29,287
110 Jerome 23,086 Arlene 29,091
111 Edwin 22,952 Delores 28,499
112 Brian 22,772 Lynda 27,949
113 Victor 22,503 Julia 27,887
114 Bob 21,366 Marsha 27,399
115 Floyd 20,982 Charlene 26,781
116 Lewis 20,919 June 25,162
117 Harvey 20,737 Jeanette 24,710
118 Clyde 20,695 Edna 24,691
119 Alvin 20,682 Josephine 24,308
120 Craig 20,269 Eleanor 23,749
121 Vernon 20,027 Yvonne 23,664
122 Leslie 19,362 Vicki 23,489
123 Franklin 19,282 Vivian 22,910
124 Calvin 19,224 Emma 22,780
125 Jon 19,026 Georgia 22,387
126 Jay 18,656 Lillian 22,299
127 Charlie 18,237 Edith 22,141
128 Darrell 18,216 Pauline 21,898
129 Jackie 18,102 Wilma 21,185
130 Dan 18,006 Victoria 20,749
131 Allan 17,812 Ethel 20,578
132 Randall 17,765 Lucille 20,450
133 Joel 17,407 Florence 20,388
134 Gilbert 17,324 Sara 20,272
135 Benjamin 17,170 Margie 20,252
136 Lester 17,064 Thelma 20,224
137 Duane 17,055 Clara 20,021
138 Tony 16,950 Audrey 19,715
139 Leo 16,949 Grace 19,368
140 Herman 16,834 Teresa 19,323
141 Jose 16,805 Annette 19,177
142 Glen 16,535 Claudia 19,163
143 Johnnie 16,405 Gladys 19,050
144 Dean 16,348 Julie 19,036
145 Arnold 16,017 Marion 18,484
146 Lonnie 15,888 Gwendolyn 18,339
147 Christopher 15,860 Priscilla 18,116
148 Nicholas 15,499 Willie 18,092
149 Freddie 15,359 Esther 17,633
150 Chester 15,263 Eva 17,562
151 Eric 15,181 Andrea 17,058
152 Milton 14,863 Maryann 17,047
153 Cecil 14,824 Bernice 17,026
154 Lynn 14,184 Rosa 16,793
155 Manuel 14,178 Hazel 16,652
156 Randy 14,155 Billie 16,367
157 Roland 13,083 Bertha 16,223
158 Ted 13,013 Gayle 16,196
159 Dwight 12,859 Bobbie 16,192
160 Claude 12,809 Pat 16,151
161 Wesley 12,453 Maxine 16,072
162 Neil 12,426 Marian 16,034
163 Sam 12,346 Ella 15,963
164 Scott 12,169 Paulette 15,902
165 Dave 11,736 Joy 15,564
166 Wallace 11,449 Beatrice 15,559
167 Kevin 11,293 Cathy 15,547
168 Hugh 10,987 Lillie 15,350
169 Donnie 10,981 Janis 14,860
170 Elmer 10,863 Leslie 14,854
171 Micheal 10,628 Ida 14,289
172 Willard 10,589 Lynne 14,233
173 Juan 10,542 Deanna 13,736
174 Maurice 10,471 Faye 13,707
175 Garry 10,310 Terry 13,704
176 Jessie 10,309 Valerie 13,687
177 Marshall 10,237 Rachel 13,406
178 Oscar 10,184 Emily 13,401
179 Edgar 9,802 Lucy 13,128
180 Karl 9,721 Janie 13,111
181 Marion 9,660 Penny 13,109
182 Sidney 9,604 Jackie 13,087
183 Stuart 9,520 Harriet 12,919
184 Nathaniel 9,482 Regina 12,713
185 Alexander 9,468 Rosalie 12,582
186 Sammy 9,353 Alma 12,401
187 Everett 9,300 Angela 12,255
188 Benny 9,292 Vera 12,185
189 Guy 8,938 Jessie 12,143
190 Virgil 8,938 Marianne 11,947
191 Morris 8,796 Stephanie 11,933
192 Matthew 8,759 Jill 11,866
193 Earnest 8,692 Mattie 11,769
194 Lyle 8,610 Minnie 11,732
195 Max 8,514 Caroline 11,624
196 Bennie 8,476 Michele 11,597
197 Wendell 8,368 Veronica 11,526
198 Kent 8,341 Patty 11,411
199 Jonathan 8,287 Rosie 11,401
200 Fredrick 8,227 Stella 11,361

 

Source: 100% sample based on Social Security card application data as of the end of February 2011.