1940s Baby Names
13,557 names were given to children in the United States between 1940 and 1949, 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.
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#3John John is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "Yahweh is gracious," from Yochanan.713,692 in the 1940s
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#4Mary Mary is a girl's name of Hebrew origin whose meaning has never been settled.642,384 in the 1940s
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#7Richard Richard is a boy's name from Germanic roots meaning strong or brave ruler.478,652 in the 1940s
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#10Patricia Patricia is a girl's name from the Latin for noble or patrician, the feminine of Patrick.412,654 in the 1940s
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#11Charles Charles is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "free man," from karl.363,238 in the 1940s
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#12Thomas Thomas is a boy's name of Aramaic origin meaning "twin," from te'oma.351,737 in the 1940s
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#17Larry Larry is a boy's name, the short form of Lawrence, from a Roman name meaning of Laurentum.256,655 in the 1940s
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#19Donald Donald is a boy's name from the Scottish Gaelic Dòmhnall, meaning world ruler.248,484 in the 1940s
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#20Joseph Joseph is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add," from Yosef.230,953 in the 1940s
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#30Edward Edward is a boy's name of Old English origin meaning "wealthy guardian."175,319 in the 1940s
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#31Margaret Margaret is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "pearl," from margarites.173,518 in the 1940s
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#34Judy Judy is a girl's name, the pet form of Judith, from a Hebrew word meaning a woman of Judea.168,202 in the 1940s
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#36Donna Donna is a girl's name from the Italian word for a lady, a title used as a name.165,995 in the 1940s
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#41Janet Janet is a girl's name, a Scottish diminutive of Jane meaning God is gracious.131,093 in the 1940s
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#43Frank Frank is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "free man" or "Frank."119,818 in the 1940s
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#47Daniel Daniel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my judge," from Daniyyel.113,115 in the 1940s
What Made a 1940s Name
Children in the United States were registered with it between 1940 and 1949. A name's position here is how many of them were.
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.