1940s Baby Names

4,665 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

#101
Fred Fred is a boy's name, the short form of Frederick meaning peaceful ruler.
56,872 in the 1940s
#102
Harry Harry is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "home ruler."
56,447 in the 1940s
#106
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.
53,682 in the 1940s
#107
Dale Dale is a name from the Old English word for a valley, and like Craig and Heather it is a plain landscape noun rather than a compound.
52,401 in the 1940s
#111
Mark Mark is a boy's name of Latin origin, most likely meaning "of Mars," borne by the evangelist who wrote the earliest gospel.
50,827 in the 1940s
#113
Alan Alan is a boy's name of Breton origin whose meaning has never been established.
50,392 in the 1940s
#115
Louis Louis is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "famous warrior."
49,708 in the 1940s
#117
Philip Philip is a boy's name from Greek elements meaning lover of horses.
48,842 in the 1940s
#118
Patrick Patrick is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "nobleman."
48,803 in the 1940s
#122
Danny Danny is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my judge," a diminutive of Daniel.
46,816 in the 1940s
#123
Stanley Stanley is a boy's name of Old English origin meaning "stony clearing."
46,454 in the 1940s
#129
Leonard Leonard is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "lion-strong," and its saint is the patron of prisoners and of women in labor.
44,441 in the 1940s
#130
Ronnie Ronnie is a name of Old Norse origin meaning "ruler's counsel."
44,321 in the 1940s
#132
Timothy Timothy is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "honoring God."
43,624 in the 1940s
#134
Samuel Samuel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin usually translated as "God has heard," from Shemu'el.
43,322 in the 1940s
#135
Gregory Gregory is a boy's name from the Greek for watchful or alert.
43,315 in the 1940s
#137
Francis Francis is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "Frenchman" or "free man."
42,400 in the 1940s
#138
Norman Norman means a Northman — a Viking.
42,357 in the 1940s
#139
Ernest Ernest is a boy's name from a Germanic word meaning serious or resolute, and it is far stronger in Europe than in America — 252nd in England and Wales and 276th in France against 1042nd in the United States.
41,985 in the 1940s
#141
Russell Russell is a boy's name from a Norman nickname meaning little red, given to someone red-haired or ruddy.
41,496 in the 1940s
#149
Melvin Melvin is a boy's name from a Scottish place name, and the gentle chieftain reading usually given for it is an invention — the source is a Norman family who took their name from Malleville in France.
39,544 in the 1940s
#150
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.
39,366 in the 1940s
#151
Allen Allen is a boy's name whose meaning is genuinely unknown — rock, handsome and deer have all been proposed from an unidentified Breton source.
39,266 in the 1940s
#152
Frederick Frederick is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "peaceful ruler."
39,200 in the 1940s
#157
Bill Bill comes from William, and the B is the point — medieval English made pet names by rhyming, which is why Will became Bill, Rob became Bob and Rick became Dick.
37,848 in the 1940s
#159
Eddie Eddie is a boy's name, the pet form of Edward or Edwin, meaning wealth.
37,452 in the 1940s
#160
Tommy Tommy is a boy's name of Aramaic origin meaning "twin."
37,422 in the 1940s
#162
Phillip Phillip is a boy's name meaning lover of horses, the doubled-l spelling of Philip.
37,075 in the 1940s
#163
Marvin Marvin is a boy's name from the Welsh Merfyn, and the sea friend reading usually given for it is not supported — the Welsh elements point to marrow and eminent instead.
36,643 in the 1940s
#164
Don Don is a boy's name shortened from Donald, meaning world ruler.
36,422 in the 1940s
#165
Clarence Clarence is a boy's name taken from an English dukedom, itself named for a Suffolk town.
36,402 in the 1940s
#166
Steve Steve is a boy's name, the short form of Steven or Stephen, meaning crown or garland.
36,380 in the 1940s
#167
Barry Barry is a boy's name from an Irish surname generally traced to a word for a spear, though a Welsh island gives a competing route.
36,332 in the 1940s
#169
Glenn Glenn is a boy's name from the Gaelic word for a narrow valley, and like Craig and Dale it is a plain landscape noun.
35,953 in the 1940s
#173
Jim Jim is a boy's name meaning supplanter, shortened from James — which is the same name as Jacob, split into two by Latin.
35,754 in the 1940s
#177
Mike Mike is a boy's name, the short form of Michael, from a Hebrew question meaning who is like God.
34,774 in the 1940s
#178
Andrew Andrew is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "manly" or "brave," from andreios, from aner, a man.
34,768 in the 1940s
#180
Jeffrey Jeffrey is a boy's name from Germanic roots whose first element is genuinely disputed, though the second means peace.
34,463 in the 1940s
#183
Leroy Leroy is a boy's name that is simply the French for the king, taken as one word.
34,049 in the 1940s
#194
Alfred Alfred is a boy's name of Old English origin meaning "elf counsel."
32,135 in the 1940s
#196
Martin Martin is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "of Mars," borne by Saint Martin of Tours, whose cloak gave Europe the word chapel.
31,498 in the 1940s
#202
Ray Ray is a boy's name that serves as a short form of Raymond and as the English word for a beam of light.
30,087 in the 1940s
#204
Tom Tom is a boy's name of Aramaic origin meaning "twin," a short form of Thomas used as a full name across Europe.
29,983 in the 1940s
#207
Herbert Herbert is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning bright army.
28,831 in the 1940s
#209
Gene Gene means well-born, shortened from Eugene — and it has nothing at all to do with genes in biology, which is a separate word coined in 1909 from a different Greek root entirely, by a Danish botanist.
28,750 in the 1940s
#216
Bernard Bernard is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning brave as a bear.
26,531 in the 1940s
#217
Theodore Theodore is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "gift of God," formed from theos, meaning god, and doron, meaning gift.
26,317 in the 1940s
#218
Curtis Curtis is a boy's name from a Norman French nickname meaning courteous, and it is one of very few names that describes manners rather than birth, appearance or trade.
26,282 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.