1930s Baby Names

4,739 names were given to children in the United States between 1930 and 1939, ranked below by how many.

A name's place is its total across those ten years. Names that appear in only some of the decade say so, because a name recorded once is a different fact from one recorded every year.

All Girls Boys Unisex

Rankings for

#1
Robert Robert is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "bright fame," from hrod, fame, and beraht, bright.
593,546 in the 1930s
#3
James James is a boy's name of Hebrew origin, an English form of Jacob by way of Late Latin Iacomus.
550,385 in the 1930s
#4
John John is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "Yahweh is gracious," from Yochanan.
490,531 in the 1930s
#5
William William is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "resolute protection," from wil, meaning will or desire, and helm, meaning helmet.
418,633 in the 1930s
#6
Richard Richard is a boy's name from Germanic roots meaning strong or brave ruler.
331,782 in the 1930s
#7
Charles Charles is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "free man," from karl.
304,992 in the 1930s
#10
Donald Donald is a boy's name from the Scottish Gaelic Dòmhnall, meaning world ruler.
284,864 in the 1930s
#14
George George is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "farmer" or "worker of the earth," from ge, earth, and ergon, work.
193,891 in the 1930s
#15
Thomas Thomas is a boy's name of Aramaic origin meaning "twin," from te'oma.
184,710 in the 1930s
#16
Joseph Joseph is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add," from Yosef.
181,452 in the 1930s
#18
David David is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "beloved," from Dawid.
165,376 in the 1930s
#20
Edward Edward is a boy's name of Old English origin meaning "wealthy guardian."
148,563 in the 1930s
#23
Ronald Ronald is a boy's name from the Old Norse Rögnvaldr, meaning ruler's counsel, brought to Scotland by Norse settlement.
140,814 in the 1930s
#24
Paul Paul is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "small" or "humble," borne by the apostle whose letters shaped Christian doctrine.
126,405 in the 1930s
#25
Kenneth Kenneth is a boy's name anglicizing two separate Gaelic names, one meaning born of fire and one meaning handsome.
125,633 in the 1930s
#30
Frank Frank is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "free man" or "Frank."
108,707 in the 1930s
#32
Raymond Raymond is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning counsel and protection.
100,065 in the 1930s
#35
Jack Jack is a boy's name of English origin that began as a pet form of John, by way of the medieval nickname Jankin.
96,873 in the 1930s
#37
Harold Harold is a boy's name from Norse and Old English elements meaning army ruler, and it belongs to the last Anglo-Saxon king of England, killed at Hastings in 1066.
95,898 in the 1930s
#39
Billy Billy is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "resolute protector."
89,443 in the 1930s
#41
Jerry Jerry is a name that serves as the short form of at least three unrelated names — Jeremiah from Hebrew, Gerald and Gerard from Germanic — so its meaning depends entirely on which one a family had in mind.
84,841 in the 1930s
#42
Gerald Gerald is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning rule of the spear, and it gave Ireland one of its great Norman dynasties, the FitzGeralds.
83,275 in the 1930s
#44
Walter Walter is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning ruler of the army.
81,489 in the 1930s
#52
Joe Joe is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add," a short form of Joseph that has become the English word for an ordinary person.
73,887 in the 1930s
#54
Bobby Bobby is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "bright fame."
71,663 in the 1930s
#55
Eugene Eugene is a boy's name from the Greek for well-born, and it is the source of the word eugenics — a connection worth knowing, since the name long predates and has nothing to do with that movement.
71,411 in the 1930s
#56
Henry Henry is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "home ruler," from heim, meaning home or estate, and ric, meaning ruler or power.
71,062 in the 1930s
#60
Arthur Arthur is a boy's name of disputed origin.
68,275 in the 1930s
#61
Carl Carl is a boy's name from the Germanic word for a free man, the same root as Charles.
67,170 in the 1930s
#64
Larry Larry is a boy's name, the short form of Lawrence, from a Roman name meaning of Laurentum.
65,501 in the 1930s
#66
Ralph Ralph is a boy's name of Norse origin meaning "wolf counsel."
64,113 in the 1930s
#67
Albert Albert is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "noble and bright."
63,188 in the 1930s
#71
Fred Fred is a boy's name, the short form of Frederick meaning peaceful ruler.
56,496 in the 1930s
#72
Michael Michael is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "who is like God?" — a rhetorical question expecting the answer that no one is.
56,385 in the 1930s
#73
Lawrence Lawrence is a boy's name meaning from Laurentum, an ancient Italian town linked to the laurel.
54,758 in the 1930s
#74
Harry Harry is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "home ruler."
53,397 in the 1930s
#75
Roy Roy is a boy's name with two independent sources — the Gaelic ruadh, meaning red-haired, and the French roi, meaning king.
51,876 in the 1930s
#76
Howard Howard is a boy's name whose origin is genuinely contested — high guardian, brave heart and even a keeper of pigs have all been proposed.
51,788 in the 1930s
#77
Norman Norman means a Northman — a Viking.
50,291 in the 1930s
#82
Roger Roger is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning famous spear.
49,827 in the 1930s
#86
Daniel Daniel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my judge," from Daniyyel.
48,205 in the 1930s
#88
Louis Louis is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "famous warrior."
48,140 in the 1930s
#92
Earl Earl is a boy's name taken from the English noble title, and it is the only rank in the British peerage with a native English name rather than a French one.
45,014 in the 1930s
#93
Francis Francis is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "Frenchman" or "free man."
44,960 in the 1930s
#95
Gary Gary is a boy's name that reached the charts by an unusually traceable route: a surname became a steel town in Indiana, the town's name was given to an actor, and the actor made it a first name.
43,816 in the 1930s
#97
Clarence Clarence is a boy's name taken from an English dukedom, itself named for a Suffolk town.
42,958 in the 1930s
#98
Anthony Anthony is a boy's name from the Roman family name Antonius, whose meaning is genuinely unknown — it is probably Etruscan rather than Latin.
42,800 in the 1930s
#100
Wayne Wayne is an occupational surname meaning a wagon maker, and its life as a given name follows one man — John Wayne, who was born Marion Robert Morrison and renamed by a studio.
41,378 in the 1930s

What made a 1930s name

Nothing about the sound of it. A name is on this page because children in the United States were registered with it between 1930 and 1939, and its position is simply how many. Every list of "1930s names" you will find elsewhere is somebody's sense of the period; this one is the register.

Why Some Names Only Cover Part of the Decade

A name that appears in three of the ten years either arrived partway through or faded out — and either is more interesting than the total on its own. The statistics offices do not publish names given to very few children in a year, so a gap can also mean the count dropped below the threshold rather than to nothing.

Where to Go Next

Open any name to see its full curve — most of these have a hundred and forty years of it. Or compare the ends of the same measurement: the most popular names now and the rarest.