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Baby names in New Jersey in the 1940s

In New Jersey in the 1940s the most given names were Robert (29,357 boys) and Barbara (16,619 girls), of 752,715 births recorded.

Babies SSA recorded in New Jersey each year, the 1940s shaded
New Jersey births by year and sex20k40k60k80k19101930195019701990201020251940-1949BoysGirls
New Jersey births by year and sex20k40k60k80k19101930195019701990201020251940-1949BoysGirls
New Jersey births by year and sex20k40k60k80k19101930195019701990201020251940-1949BoysGirls
New Jersey births by year and sex20k40k60k80k19101950199020251940-1949BoysGirls

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

New Jersey, 1940-1949: SSA state baby-name file, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s state data.

The top names in New Jersey, 1940s

Girls, 1940-1949
#NameBirths
1Barbara16,619
2Patricia16,080
3Mary12,831
4Carol11,846
5Linda11,399
6Susan7,873
7Judith7,760
8Kathleen7,458
9Nancy7,354
10Joan6,667
11Margaret6,099
12Diane5,578
13Sandra4,803
14Elizabeth4,731
15Joyce4,326
16Janet4,099
17Karen4,059
18Dorothy4,057
19Sharon3,424
20Donna3,261
Boys, 1940-1949
#NameBirths
1Robert29,357
2John28,313
3William19,798
4James17,545
5Richard17,289
6Joseph14,628
7Thomas13,130
8Michael10,155
9Charles9,260
10Edward8,823
11George8,487
12David8,443
13Ronald7,666
14Frank6,692
15Donald5,902
16Kenneth5,828
17Paul5,600
18Anthony5,047
19Peter4,879
20Raymond4,282

Births summed over 1940-1949, per sex.

The names most over-represented in New Jersey in the 1940s

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, 1940-1949.

More about names in New Jersey

  1. The 1940s across the U.S.The most given names of the decade nationally.
  2. New Jersey: 2025 and every year since 1910The state’s top names now and its number ones by year.
  3. New Jersey in the 1950sThe next decade in the state.
  4. The top names of 1940The 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 New Jersey: 2025 and every year since 1910