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 the birth records 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 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 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 1,042nd 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 on record — 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 on record — 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

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.