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.

All Girls Boys Unisex

Rankings for

#1
James James is a boy's name of Hebrew origin, an English form of Jacob by way of Late Latin Iacomus.
798,341 in the 1940s
#2
Robert Robert is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "bright fame," from hrod, fame, and beraht, bright.
760,240 in the 1940s
#3
John John is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "Yahweh is gracious," from Yochanan.
713,692 in the 1940s
#4
Mary Mary is a girl's name of Hebrew origin whose meaning has never been settled.
642,384 in the 1940s
#5
William William is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "resolute protection," from wil, meaning will or desire, and helm, meaning helmet.
557,985 in the 1940s
#6
Linda Linda is a girl's name usually read as beautiful in Spanish or as a Germanic element meaning soft or tender.
532,989 in the 1940s
#7
Richard Richard is a boy's name from Germanic roots meaning strong or brave ruler.
478,652 in the 1940s
#8
David David is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "beloved," from Dawid.
427,414 in the 1940s
#9
Barbara Barbara is a girl's name from the Greek for foreign or strange, the feminine of the word that gives us barbarian.
426,429 in the 1940s
#10
Patricia Patricia is a girl's name from the Latin for noble or patrician, the feminine of Patrick.
412,654 in the 1940s
#11
Charles Charles is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "free man," from karl.
363,238 in the 1940s
#12
Thomas Thomas is a boy's name of Aramaic origin meaning "twin," from te'oma.
351,737 in the 1940s
#13
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.
338,115 in the 1940s
#14
Carol Carol is a girl's name with two independent sources: a short form of Caroline, and the word for a joyful song.
294,291 in the 1940s
#15
Ronald Ronald is a boy's name from the Old Norse Rögnvaldr, meaning ruler's counsel, brought to Scotland by Norse settlement.
283,190 in the 1940s
#16
Sandra Sandra is a girl's name that began as an Italian short form of Alessandra and became independent in the twentieth century.
266,258 in the 1940s
#17
Larry Larry is a boy's name, the short form of Lawrence, from a Roman name meaning of Laurentum.
256,655 in the 1940s
#18
Nancy Nancy is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "grace."
252,646 in the 1940s
#19
Donald Donald is a boy's name from the Scottish Gaelic Dòmhnall, meaning world ruler.
248,484 in the 1940s
#20
Joseph Joseph is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add," from Yosef.
230,953 in the 1940s
#21
Sharon Sharon is a girl's name taken from a place rather than a person — the fertile coastal plain of Sharon in Israel, known from the rose of Sharon in the Song of Songs.
221,973 in the 1940s
#22
Judith Judith is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "woman of Judea," borne by the heroine who beheads Holofernes in the deuterocanonical book named for her.
218,647 in the 1940s
#23
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.
218,409 in the 1940s
#24
Susan Susan is a girl's name from a Hebrew word for lily, taken in turn from an Egyptian word for lotus.
212,527 in the 1940s
#25
George George is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "farmer" or "worker of the earth," from ge, earth, and ergon, work.
210,289 in the 1940s
#26
Kenneth Kenneth is a boy's name anglicizing two separate Gaelic names, one meaning born of fire and one meaning handsome.
199,075 in the 1940s
#27
Betty Betty is a girl's name that began as a short form of Elizabeth and is now used in its own right.
195,365 in the 1940s
#28
Paul Paul is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "small" or "humble," borne by the apostle whose letters shaped Christian doctrine.
183,902 in the 1940s
#29
Carolyn Carolyn is a girl's name, an English elaboration of Caroline meaning free man through Charles.
182,381 in the 1940s
#30
Edward Edward is a boy's name of Old English origin meaning "wealthy guardian."
175,319 in the 1940s
#31
Margaret Margaret is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "pearl," from margarites.
173,518 in the 1940s
#32
Shirley Shirley is a girl's name from an English place name meaning bright clearing, and it was a boys' name until Charlotte Brontë used it for a heroine in 1849.
173,253 in the 1940s
#33
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.
172,238 in the 1940s
#34
Judy 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
#35
Karen Karen is a girl's name, the Danish form of Katherine, and it inherits that name's genuinely unknown meaning.
168,154 in the 1940s
#36
Donna Donna is a girl's name from the Italian word for a lady, a title used as a name.
165,995 in the 1940s
#37
Dennis Dennis is a boy's name that traces back to Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and ecstatic release — one of the few widely used Christian names derived from a pagan deity.
162,574 in the 1940s
#38
Kathleen Kathleen is a girl's name anglicizing the Irish Caitlín, a form of Catherine, and it inherits that name's genuinely unknown meaning.
153,343 in the 1940s
#39
Joyce Joyce is a girl's name that was a man's name for most of its history, from a Breton saint called Iodoc. Our data marks it stable, and its highest current rank is France at 334th — not any English-speaking market.
152,088 in the 1940s
#40
Dorothy Dorothy is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "gift of God."
132,766 in the 1940s
#41
Janet Janet is a girl's name, a Scottish diminutive of Jane meaning God is gracious.
131,093 in the 1940s
#42
Diane Diane is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "divine" or "heavenly," the French form of the Roman goddess Diana.
123,200 in the 1940s
#43
Frank Frank is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "free man" or "Frank."
119,818 in the 1940s
#44
Janice Janice is a girl's name usually credited to a 1899 novel, though our records carry it from 1894 — five years before the book.
119,227 in the 1940s
#45
Joan Joan is a girl's name, the medieval English feminine of John meaning God is gracious, and it was once as common as Mary.
118,156 in the 1940s
#46
Elizabeth Elizabeth is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my oath," from Elisheva, the name of Aaron's wife in the Book of Exodus.
116,909 in the 1940s
#47
Daniel Daniel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my judge," from Daniyyel.
113,115 in the 1940s
#48
Brenda Brenda is a girl's name from an Old Norse word for a sword or a torch, and it appears to have been invented for a novel — Walter Scott used it in The Pirate in 1822, and no earlier use is recorded.
112,724 in the 1940s

What made a 1940s name

Nothing about the sound of it. A name is on this page because children in the United States were registered with it between 1940 and 1949, and its position is simply how many. Every list of "1940s 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.