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Baby names in Iowa in the 1930s

In Iowa in the 1930s the most given names were Robert (11,941 boys) and Mary (10,797 girls), of 374,700 births recorded.

Babies SSA recorded in Iowa each year, the 1930s shaded
Iowa births by year and sex10k20k30k40k19101930195019701990201020251930-1939BoysGirls
Iowa births by year and sex10k20k30k40k19101930195019701990201020251930-1939BoysGirls
Iowa births by year and sex10k20k30k40k19101930195019701990201020251930-1939BoysGirls
Iowa births by year and sex10k20k30k40k19101950199020251930-1939BoysGirls

Births under names given to 5 or more babies of one sex in the state that year.

Iowa, 1930-1939: SSA state baby-name file, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s state data.

The top names in Iowa, 1930s

Girls, 1930-1939
#NameBirths
1Mary10,797
2Shirley6,101
3Betty5,561
4Patricia4,971
5Barbara4,799
6Marilyn4,606
7Donna4,463
8Beverly3,760
9Dorothy3,318
10Joan2,938
11Joyce2,816
12Carol2,746
13Margaret2,615
14Phyllis2,596
15Lois2,525
16Nancy2,446
17Ruth2,415
18Janice2,364
19Janet2,353
20Norma2,347
Boys, 1930-1939
#NameBirths
1Robert11,941
2Richard9,368
3James8,694
4Donald8,463
5John7,973
6William5,650
7Charles4,465
8Ronald4,210
9Larry4,194
10Kenneth3,441
11David3,377
12Jerry2,989
13Gary2,644
14Jack2,639
15Paul2,612
16Harold2,464
17Gerald2,456
18Thomas2,444
19Roger2,402
20George2,231

Births summed over 1930-1939, per sex.

The names most over-represented in Iowa in the 1930s

Each figure is the name’s births in the state in the decade against the births its national share, year by year, would predict (names with at least 100 births in the state).

Girls

Boys

Ratios: observed over predicted births, 1930-1939.

More about names in Iowa

  1. The 1930s across the U.S.The most given names of the decade nationally.
  2. Iowa: 2025 and every year since 1910The state’s top names now and its number ones by year.
  3. Iowa in the 1940sThe next decade in the state.
  4. The top names of 1930The first year of the decade, nationally.
  5. Every state’s most given namesEach state since 1910.
  6. Look up any nameIts rank, births since 1880 and the people alive with it.

Back to Iowa: 2025 and every year since 1910