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.
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#193Ruby Ruby is a girl's name of Latin origin naming the red gemstone, from ruber, meaning red.32,140 in the 1940s
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#198Juanita Juanita is a girl's name meaning God is gracious, the Spanish diminutive of Juana.30,602 in the 1940s
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#199Maureen Maureen is the Irish Máirín, a diminutive of Máire, which is itself the Irish form of Mary.30,324 in the 1940s
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#207Herbert Herbert is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning bright army.28,831 in the 1940s
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#212Julia Julia is a girl's name of Latin origin, the feminine of the Roman family name Julius.28,017 in the 1940s
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#215Charlene Charlene is a girl's name meaning free man, a feminine of Charles.26,850 in the 1940s
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#216Bernard Bernard is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning brave as a bear.26,531 in the 1940s
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#220Keith Keith is a boy's name from a Scottish place name, probably from a Brittonic word for a wood.25,994 in the 1940s
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#224Jeanette Jeanette means God is gracious, a French double diminutive of Jeanne.24,809 in the 1940s
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#225Edna Edna is a girl's name from a Hebrew word meaning delight, and it shares its root with Eden.24,790 in the 1940s
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#229Vincent Vincent is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "conquering," from vincere, to conquer.23,970 in the 1940s
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#232Yvonne Yvonne is a girl's name from a Germanic word for the yew tree, by way of Breton.23,762 in the 1940s
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#237Vivian Vivian is a name of Latin origin meaning "alive" or "lively," from vivus.23,169 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.