Baby names in Ohio in the 1940s

In Ohio in the 1940s the most given names were James (43,801 boys) and Mary (30,920 girls), of 1,430,496 births recorded.

1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s

Babies SSA recorded in Ohio each year, the 1940s shaded

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

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

The top names in Ohio, 1940s

Girls, 1940-1949
#	Name	Births
1	Mary	30,920
2	Linda	30,663
3	Barbara	23,989
4	Patricia	22,942
5	Carol	19,841
6	Sandra	17,263
7	Nancy	16,353
8	Judith	14,923
9	Sharon	14,720
10	Karen	14,090
11	Susan	12,788
12	Donna	11,188
13	Judy	10,050
14	Janet	9,885
15	Kathleen	9,614
16	Carolyn	9,404
17	Joyce	8,813
18	Shirley	8,223
19	Margaret	8,050
20	Betty	7,506

Boys, 1940-1949
#	Name	Births
1	James	43,801
2	Robert	43,230
3	John	39,488
4	William	31,057
5	David	29,648
6	Richard	28,753
7	Thomas	24,113
8	Michael	20,481
9	Charles	18,907
10	Ronald	18,272
11	Larry	16,154
12	Donald	15,289
13	Gary	15,215
14	Kenneth	11,659
15	Paul	11,320
16	Joseph	10,686
17	Dennis	9,772
18	George	9,358
19	Jerry	8,509
20	Edward	8,459

Births summed over 1940-1949, per sex.

The names most over-represented in Ohio 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

Garnet · 3.0×Cinda · 2.3×Sandy · 2.2×Saundra · 2.0×Suellen · 2.0×Sondra · 1.9×

Boys

Eli · 2.3×Denver · 2.1×Timothy · 2.0×Dave · 2.0×Ned · 2.0×Tim · 1.9×

Ratios: observed over predicted births, 1940-1949.

More about names in Ohio

The 1940s across the U.S.The most given names of the decade nationally.
Ohio: 2025 and every year since 1910The state’s top names now and its number ones by year.
Ohio in the 1950sThe next decade in the state.
The top names of 1940The first year of the decade, nationally.
Every state’s most given namesEach state since 1910.
Look up any nameIts rank, births since 1880 and the people alive with it.

Back to Ohio: 2025 and every year since 1910