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.

  • #11,228
    Thedora
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,230
    Lotta
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,232
    Tanja
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,233
    Ortensia
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,234
    Chellie
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,235
    Glenetta
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,236
    Deolinda
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,237
    Bettelou
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,238
    Haidee
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,243
    Mitzy
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,245
    Masako
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,246
    Katheen
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,247
    Rafaelita
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,252
    Jurlene
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,253
    Jerldine
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,254
    Jerianne
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,256
    Nansi
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,257
    Denette
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,261
    Anni
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,262
    Alveria
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,266
    Tereza
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,268
    Nara
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,269
    Clemetine
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,271
    Debbora
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,273
    Caffie
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,275
    Curtistine
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,276
    Starleen
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,277
    Delmarie
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,279
    Lavene
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,280
    Vaneta
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,281
    Lavanna
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,282
    Sandara
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,283
    Tootsie
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,286
    Margurette
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,287
    Elveta
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,288
    Tawanda
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,291
    Arah
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,295
    Laverle
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,296
    Tova
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,297
    Geannie
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,301
    Cilla
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,306
    Brendalee
    10 in the 1940s 1 of 10 years
  • #11,307
    Cathyrn
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,309
    Cathee
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,313
    Arnice
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,314
    Eulla
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,315
    Edena
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years
  • #11,316
    Marjoria
    10 in the 1940s 2 of 10 years

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.