Baby names of the 1940s
The most given names of the 1940s were Mary and James. The names most over-represented in those years are Judith, Carole, Judy for girls and Larry, Jerry, Dennis for boys, each given at least 3.3 times as often then as across 1880-2025. An estimated 14.8 million Americans born in the U.S. in those years are alive in 2026.
Babies given each name per year; 1940-1949 shaded.
Births 1940-1949: SSA national file, published May 8, 2026; the living figure uses SSA’s cohort life tables. SSA’s notes on the data.
The most given names
| # | Name | Births |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mary | 640,080 |
| 2 | Linda | 531,660 |
| 3 | Barbara | 425,271 |
| 4 | Patricia | 411,412 |
| 5 | Carol | 292,333 |
| 6 | Sandra | 265,538 |
| 7 | Nancy | 252,061 |
| 8 | Sharon | 221,237 |
| 9 | Judith | 218,037 |
| 10 | Susan | 212,016 |
| 11 | Betty | 194,623 |
| 12 | Carolyn | 181,858 |
| 13 | Margaret | 173,028 |
| 14 | Shirley | 171,780 |
| 15 | Judy | 167,719 |
| 16 | Karen | 167,700 |
| 17 | Donna | 165,523 |
| 18 | Kathleen | 152,981 |
| 19 | Joyce | 151,494 |
| 20 | Dorothy | 132,257 |
| 21 | Janet | 130,755 |
| 22 | Diane | 122,878 |
| 23 | Janice | 118,893 |
| 24 | Joan | 117,708 |
| 25 | Elizabeth | 116,551 |
| # | Name | Births |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | James | 795,775 |
| 2 | Robert | 758,126 |
| 3 | John | 711,614 |
| 4 | William | 556,478 |
| 5 | Richard | 477,476 |
| 6 | David | 426,372 |
| 7 | Charles | 361,772 |
| 8 | Thomas | 350,775 |
| 9 | Michael | 336,568 |
| 10 | Ronald | 282,489 |
| 11 | Larry | 255,908 |
| 12 | Donald | 247,834 |
| 13 | Joseph | 230,285 |
| 14 | Gary | 217,772 |
| 15 | George | 209,013 |
| 16 | Kenneth | 198,553 |
| 17 | Paul | 183,364 |
| 18 | Edward | 174,801 |
| 19 | Jerry | 167,257 |
| 20 | Dennis | 162,114 |
| 21 | Frank | 119,417 |
| 22 | Daniel | 112,778 |
| 23 | Raymond | 109,076 |
| 24 | Roger | 107,602 |
| 25 | Stephen | 106,812 |
Most given: births summed over 1940-1949, per sex.
Which names define the 1940s?
A name’s share of births in these years divided by its share across the whole record, for names given to at least 10,000 babies in the span and to one sex at least 90% of the time.
Typical: share in the span over share in 1880-2025.