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

#97
Marie Marie is a girl's name of Hebrew origin, the French form of Mary, and the largest name in our entire dataset with more than 2.8 million births on record.
57,747 in the 1940s
#98
Johnny Johnny is a boy's name, the pet form of John, meaning God is gracious.
57,743 in the 1940s
#99
Eugene Eugene is a boy's name from the Greek for well-born, and it is the source of the word eugenics — a connection worth knowing, since the name long predates and has nothing to do with that movement.
57,535 in the 1940s
#100
Lois Lois is a girl's name that appears once in the New Testament, in a letter naming Timothy's grandmother, and its meaning has never been established.
57,142 in the 1940s
#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
#103
Gail Gail is a girl's name meaning my father rejoices, clipped from Abigail.
55,157 in the 1940s
#104
Christine Christine is a girl's name from the Latin for a follower of Christ, the French form of Christina.
54,739 in the 1940s
#105
Diana Diana is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "divine" or "heavenly," the Roman goddess of the hunt and the moon.
53,853 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
#108
Rose Rose is a girl's name of Latin origin naming the flower, from rosa.
51,871 in the 1940s
#109
Joanne Joanne is a girl's name meaning God is gracious, one of the many feminines of John.
51,776 in the 1940s
#110
Wanda Wanda is a girl's name from Polish, borne by a legendary queen who drowned herself in the Vistula rather than marry a German prince.
50,949 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
#112
Carole Carole is a girl's name meaning free man, the French spelling of Carol.
50,464 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
#114
Rita Rita is a girl's name meaning pearl, clipped from the end of Margarita rather than the front.
49,992 in the 1940s
#115
Louis Louis is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "famous warrior."
49,708 in the 1940s
#116
Charlotte Charlotte is a girl's name of French origin meaning "free man," the feminine form of Charles, itself from the Germanic name Karl.
49,646 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
#119
Jo Jo is a name serving as the short form of Joanne, Josephine and Joan for women and Joseph for men.
48,722 in the 1940s
#120
Evelyn Evelyn is a girl's name of English and French origin meaning "desired" or "wished for".
48,330 in the 1940s
#121
Geraldine Geraldine was invented in a 1537 love poem — the Earl of Surrey coined it for Lady Elizabeth FitzGerald, calling her the Fair Geraldine.
48,136 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
#124
Jacqueline Jacqueline is a girl's name, the French feminine of Jacques, and it inherits the meaning supplanter from Jacob.
45,680 in the 1940s
#125
Ellen Ellen is a girl's name of Greek origin, a medieval English form of Helen whose meaning has never been settled.
45,550 in the 1940s
#126
Sally Sally is a girl's name meaning princess, a pet form of Sarah reached by medieval rhyming.
45,495 in the 1940s
#127
Rebecca Rebecca is a girl's name of Hebrew origin whose meaning is unsettled, and the standard gloss involves a rope for tying cattle.
45,427 in the 1940s
#128
Kathryn Kathryn is a girl's name, the y-spelling of Katherine, and it inherits that name's genuinely unknown meaning.
44,683 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
#131
Deborah Deborah is a girl's name from the Hebrew for bee, borne by the only woman to lead Israel as a judge.
44,140 in the 1940s
#132
Timothy Timothy is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "honoring God."
43,624 in the 1940s
#133
Lynn Lynn is a name from a Welsh and Gaelic word for a lake or a pool below a waterfall.
43,590 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
#136
Norma Norma is a girl's name that appears to have been invented for an opera — Bellini's Norma of 1831 — and it was the birth name of Marilyn Monroe, who appears elsewhere in these pages under the name that replaced it.
43,206 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
#140
Suzanne Suzanne is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "lily," from shoshannah.
41,503 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
#142
Anna Anna is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "grace" or "favor," the Greek and Latin form of Hannah.
41,444 in the 1940s
#143
Sue Sue means lily, shortened from Susan, and it is one of the steepest falls in our data — from 5,306 American births in 1947 to 11, a decline by a factor of roughly 482.
41,082 in the 1940s
#144
Patsy Patsy serves both Patricia and Patrick, and it is 94 percent female in our records — the male use survives mainly in Ireland, where Patsy is still an ordinary man's name rather than a woman's name at all.
40,905 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.