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
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.