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Baby names in Kentucky in the 1930s

In Kentucky in the 1930s the most given names were James (20,306 boys) and Mary (18,303 girls), of 528,218 births recorded.

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

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

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

The top names in Kentucky, 1930s

Girls, 1930-1939
#NameBirths
1Mary18,303
2Betty13,273
3Barbara6,148
4Shirley5,557
5Dorothy5,315
6Anna4,701
7Helen4,114
8Joyce3,894
9Margaret3,729
10Martha3,715
11Doris3,660
12Wanda3,575
13Patricia3,212
14Norma3,169
15Virginia3,144
16Ruth3,131
17Nancy3,103
18Ruby2,914
19Elizabeth2,658
20Wilma2,582
Boys, 1930-1939
#NameBirths
1James20,306
2William13,360
3Charles11,446
4Robert11,360
5John9,310
6Donald7,085
7Billy5,425
8Bobby4,783
9George4,439
10Paul4,218
11Kenneth3,935
12Thomas3,909
13Harold3,560
14Joseph3,154
15David3,121
16Richard2,993
17Edward2,792
18Carl2,584
19Joe2,531
20Raymond2,408

Births summed over 1930-1939, per sex.

The names most over-represented in Kentucky 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 Kentucky

  1. The 1930s across the U.S.The most given names of the decade nationally.
  2. Kentucky: 2025 and every year since 1910The state’s top names now and its number ones by year.
  3. Kentucky 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 Kentucky: 2025 and every year since 1910