Popular Names of 1932

The 20 most popular names given to female and to male babies born in 1932, as recorded, with each name’s rank in 2025.

Table 1. Female names, 1932
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	Mary	59,883	125
2	Betty	34,420	1,113
3	Barbara	26,318	968
4	Dorothy	24,974	421
5	Joan	21,044	1,087
6	Patricia	17,992	1,336
7	Margaret	16,556	112
8	Helen	16,376	462
9	Shirley	14,476	1,586
10	Doris	12,910	2,909
11	Ruth	12,257	173
12	Joyce	11,362	1,074
13	Nancy	10,948	967
14	Virginia	10,755	526
15	Jean	10,670	2,130
16	Marilyn	10,567	761
17	Elizabeth	9,999	17
18	Dolores	9,630	2,567
19	Frances	9,552	318
20	Lois	9,519	1,670

Table 2. Male names, 1932
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	Robert	59,268	92
2	James	51,930	6
3	John	48,624	23
4	William	42,124	9
5	Richard	31,809	234
6	Charles	31,092	48
7	Donald	29,794	690
8	George	20,439	126
9	Joseph	18,566	29
10	Thomas	16,834	34
11	Edward	15,191	224
12	David	12,139	35
13	Paul	12,066	262
14	Kenneth	11,742	294
15	Frank	11,497	514
16	Ronald	11,143	638
17	Jack	10,716	15
18	Harold	10,433	993
19	Raymond	10,346	395
20	Billy	9,436	1,068

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As recorded on the Social Security card application. Names given to fewer than five babies of a sex in a year are not published, so the file is a floor.