1940s Baby Names

7,630 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

#926
Ruthann
2,190 in the 1940s
#928
Nona
2,178 in the 1940s
#930
Alyce
2,167 in the 1940s
#931
Celeste Celeste is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "heavenly."
2,167 in the 1940s
#932
Queen
2,157 in the 1940s
#937
Peggie
2,115 in the 1940s
#941
Nan
2,099 in the 1940s
#945
Nell Nell is a girl's name that reached its modern form through a medieval habit of mishearing, from "mine Ellen" run together.
2,074 in the 1940s
#949
Helena Helena is a girl's name of Greek origin whose meaning is unresolved, and its saint is credited with finding the True Cross.
2,066 in the 1940s
#951
Tanya Tanya is a Russian pet form of Tatiana, whose meaning is not known — the Roman family name behind it may be Sabine rather than Latin, and the Sabine language is barely attested at all.
2,055 in the 1940s
#952
Lesley Lesley is the Scottish spelling and Scotland proves it — a peak of 341 births there in 1974, far above what the country's size would predict against an American high of 981.
2,053 in the 1940s
#953
Madeleine Madeleine is a girl's name meaning "of Magdala," a fishing town on the Sea of Galilee, and it is a place name rather than a description.
2,052 in the 1940s
#954
Loraine
2,036 in the 1940s
#955
Sheri Sheri means darling, and it is French by way of a misreading — English took the adjective chérie as though it were a name, which is why it has no history as one in France itself.
2,035 in the 1940s
#956
Dollie
2,034 in the 1940s
#957
Shari Shari means a plain, if it comes from Sharon — the Hebrew names the fertile coastal strip of Israel, so the rose of Sharon is a region's flower rather than a person's.
2,031 in the 1940s
#958
Aurora Aurora is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "dawn."
2,031 in the 1940s
#960
Roxie
2,028 in the 1940s
#961
Georgette Georgette is a girl's name meaning farmer, and it is one of very few names to have become a fabric — the crepe is named after the French dressmaker Georgette de la Plante.
2,011 in the 1940s
#962
Winnie Winnie is a girl's name of Welsh origin meaning "blessed reconciliation."
2,009 in the 1940s
#965
Sharlene
2,000 in the 1940s
#966
Carolann
1,995 in the 1940s
#968
Roxanne Roxanne means dawn or bright, and it is Persian rather than Greek — Alexander married Roxana in Bactria, and she and their son were murdered after his death.
1,987 in the 1940s
#970
Louella
1,973 in the 1940s
#972
Roslyn
1,962 in the 1940s
#974
Candy
1,953 in the 1940s
#975
Corrine
1,941 in the 1940s
#979
Goldie
1,929 in the 1940s
#981
Crystal Crystal is a girl's name from the Greek for ice, taken from the mineral rather than from any personal name.
1,926 in the 1940s
#984
Luella
1,905 in the 1940s
#986
Consuelo
1,895 in the 1940s
#987
Ingrid Ingrid carries a god's name — Ing, the Norse deity the Swedish kings claimed descent from, joined to a word meaning beautiful.
1,895 in the 1940s
#990
Elma
1,877 in the 1940s
#991
Julianne
1,877 in the 1940s
#992
Lucia Lucia is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "light," the feminine of Lucius from lux.
1,870 in the 1940s
#994
Arline
1,866 in the 1940s
#996
Clair
1,862 in the 1940s
#997
Leila Leila means night, from Arabic, and it is one of the most evenly spread names on this site — France 211th, the United States 259th, England and Wales 269th, Scotland 282nd and Ireland 339th, a spread of just 128 places.
1,858 in the 1940s
#1,003
Maryjane
1,843 in the 1940s
#1,004
Darleen
1,842 in the 1940s
#1,005
Heather Heather is a girl's name taken directly from the flowering shrub that covers Scottish and northern English moorland.
1,841 in the 1940s
#1,007
Ronda
1,830 in the 1940s
#1,008
Neva
1,830 in the 1940s
#1,009
Elinor
1,829 in the 1940s
#1,011
Jeanine Jeanine means God is gracious, and it is a French elaboration of Jeanne — which makes it a feminine of a feminine, three derivations away from the Hebrew name it carries.
1,826 in the 1940s
#1,015
Reva
1,800 in the 1940s
#1,020
Hannah Hannah is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "grace" or "favor," from Channah.
1,777 in the 1940s
#1,022
Christy Christy serves both Christine and Christopher, so it is used for both sexes — 98 percent of recorded births are female, but the masculine use remains ordinary in Ireland.
1,770 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.