Most Popular Baby Names of the 1940s

Top Boy Names

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

Top Girl Names

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