Top Baby Names of 1937

Most popular names for boys and girls in 1937.

What the Data Says About 1937

The Social Security Administration's national 1937 file shows 1,490,739 births concentrated in the top 100 boy and top 100 girl names, the segment of U.S. baby-name data released to the public for that year. The #1 boy name of 1937 was Robert, with 61,842 births registered nationally. The #1 girl name of 1937 was Mary, with 55,643 births nationally. The top 100 boys captured 796,203 births compared with 694,536 for the top 100 girls — consistent with the historical SSA pattern in which a smaller pool of boy names dominates a larger share of annual births while girl names are more evenly distributed.

1937 sits within a specific era of U.S. naming trends. Pre-1940 years are dominated by traditional biblical and English names — John, William, Mary, and Helen consistently occupy the top ranks, and the top 10 names account for a much larger share of all births than in later decades. Robert and Mary leading 1937 fits this broader cultural signature.

These rankings come directly from Social Security Administration card applications and represent approximately 96% of all U.S. births in 1937. Names with fewer than five occurrences nationally in 1937 are excluded from SSA's public file to protect privacy, meaning the true number of unique names given in 1937 is significantly larger than any public top-100 list can show. Each spelling variation is counted separately — Sophia and Sofia, Aiden and Ayden — so rankings reflect only the specific spelling filed on the SS card, not combined name pools. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute naming advice.

← 1936
1937
1938 →

Top 100 Boys' Names Boy

Rank Name Births
1 Robert 61,842
2 James 56,562
3 John 48,753
4 William 40,724
5 Richard 32,975
6 Charles 30,521
7 Donald 27,869
8 David 20,980
9 Thomas 19,771
10 George 18,439
11 Ronald 18,140
12 Joseph 17,323
13 Edward 14,930
14 Kenneth 13,218
15 Paul 12,880
16 Larry 10,320
17 Jerry 10,302
18 Frank 10,126
19 Raymond 9,571
20 Gerald 9,424
21 Harold 8,551
22 Billy 8,298
23 Jack 8,196
24 Bobby 7,745
25 Joe 7,744
26 Walter 7,486
27 Michael 7,094
28 Carl 6,914
29 Gary 6,763
30 Henry 6,668
31 Arthur 6,321
32 Willie 6,231
33 Eugene 6,000
34 Ralph 5,922
35 Fred 5,738
36 Roger 5,712
37 Albert 5,664
38 Lawrence 5,505
39 Daniel 5,123
40 Roy 4,888
41 Harry 4,814
42 Howard 4,700
43 Norman 4,673
44 Wayne 4,613
45 Jimmy 4,517
46 Louis 4,355
47 Anthony 4,339
48 Earl 3,942
49 Marvin 3,912
50 Melvin 3,890
51 Don 3,814
52 Peter 3,809
53 Ernest 3,759
54 Clarence 3,756
55 Francis 3,730
56 Leroy 3,555
57 Stanley 3,484
58 Leonard 3,480
59 Dale 3,340
60 Alfred 3,181
61 Gene 3,165
62 Philip 3,162
63 Dennis 3,160
64 Bill 3,119
65 Herbert 3,040
66 Samuel 3,027
67 Russell 2,895
68 Frederick 2,878
69 Johnny 2,826
70 Bruce 2,809
71 Ray 2,725
72 Jimmie 2,679
73 Bernard 2,671
74 Douglas 2,610
75 Gordon 2,533
76 Allen 2,518
77 Franklin 2,514
78 Lee 2,499
79 Andrew 2,405
80 Floyd 2,388
81 Bob 2,364
82 Jim 2,347
83 Eddie 2,345
84 Tommy 2,327
85 Leon 2,325
86 Theodore 2,315
87 Martin 2,278
88 Edwin 2,263
89 Glenn 2,263
90 Clifford 2,230
91 Lloyd 2,157
92 Stephen 2,133
93 Clyde 2,105
94 Patrick 2,090
95 Harvey 2,081
96 Vernon 2,076
97 Leo 2,015
98 Phillip 2,005
99 Alvin 1,986
100 Jerome 1,979

Top 100 Girls' Names Girl

Rank Name Births
1 Mary 55,643
2 Barbara 34,917
3 Patricia 26,838
4 Shirley 26,823
5 Betty 25,337
6 Carol 17,336
7 Nancy 17,074
8 Dorothy 16,573
9 Joan 15,301
10 Margaret 15,143
11 Joyce 11,809
12 Helen 11,454
13 Marilyn 9,739
14 Beverly 9,632
15 Ruth 9,602
16 Virginia 9,516
17 Elizabeth 9,385
18 Janet 9,363
19 Frances 9,057
20 Carolyn 8,940
21 Donna 8,887
22 Doris 8,882
23 Jean 8,392
24 Martha 7,954
25 Janice 7,768
26 Sandra 7,520
27 Phyllis 7,245
28 Alice 7,120
29 Lois 6,932
30 Ann 6,713
31 Peggy 6,378
32 Gloria 6,334
33 Norma 6,235
34 Judith 6,146
35 Marie 6,075
36 Evelyn 5,760
37 Dolores 5,568
38 Anna 5,450
39 Rose 5,450
40 Marlene 5,037
41 Sharon 4,704
42 Jane 4,702
43 Mildred 4,645
44 Geraldine 4,556
45 Elaine 4,527
46 Annie 4,479
47 Catherine 4,459
48 Louise 4,381
49 Linda 4,378
50 Sylvia 4,371
51 Joanne 4,332
52 Ruby 4,289
53 Eleanor 4,275
54 Patsy 4,243
55 Wanda 4,202
56 Carole 4,198
57 Marjorie 4,091
58 Joann 3,936
59 Sally 3,925
60 Arlene 3,806
61 Kathleen 3,743
62 Irene 3,674
63 Loretta 3,673
64 Bonnie 3,595
65 Sarah 3,589
66 Roberta 3,568
67 Charlotte 3,537
68 Delores 3,529
69 Rita 3,421
70 Jacqueline 3,400
71 June 3,378
72 Darlene 3,285
73 Jo 3,226
74 Edna 3,223
75 Juanita 3,179
76 Diane 3,175
77 Yvonne 3,171
78 Thelma 3,062
79 Kay 3,010
80 Wilma 2,977
81 Florence 2,955
82 Josephine 2,942
83 Lorraine 2,940
84 Lillian 2,899
85 Audrey 2,889
86 Gladys 2,872
87 Pauline 2,818
88 Ethel 2,764
89 Emma 2,750
90 Jeanette 2,741
91 Judy 2,741
92 Anne 2,725
93 Anita 2,714
94 Grace 2,710
95 Theresa 2,702
96 Edith 2,647
97 Susan 2,641
98 Lucille 2,636
99 Gail 2,635
100 Clara 2,573
← 1936
1938 →

Nearby Year & Decade Rankings

Compare 1937 with adjacent years and the surrounding decade

1936 Top Names
National top 100
1938 Top Names
National top 100
1930s Decade
Decade-level rollup
All Rankings
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Compare 1937 leaders: Robert vs Mary → or pick any two names →

Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data (ssa.gov/oact/babynames).

Source: SSA Baby Names Methodology — names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are excluded to protect privacy.

Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from official U.S. government datasets. See our methodology for details.