Popular Names of 1933

The 20 most popular names given to female and to male babies born in 1933, as recorded, with each name’s rank in 2025.

Table 1. Female names, 1933
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	Mary	55,517	125
2	Betty	31,531	1,113
3	Barbara	26,949	968
4	Dorothy	22,054	421
5	Joan	19,294	1,087
6	Patricia	18,632	1,336
7	Margaret	15,241	112
8	Helen	14,644	462
9	Shirley	14,320	1,586
10	Doris	12,025	2,909
11	Nancy	11,869	967
12	Joyce	11,191	1,074
13	Ruth	11,136	173
14	Jean	9,966	2,130
15	Virginia	9,719	526
16	Marilyn	9,126	761
17	Elizabeth	9,016	17
18	Frances	8,883	318
19	Lois	8,655	1,670
20	Carol	8,220	2,242

Table 2. Male names, 1933
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	Robert	54,221	92
2	James	51,112	6
3	John	46,224	23
4	William	39,049	9
5	Richard	31,331	234
6	Charles	28,991	48
7	Donald	28,450	690
8	George	18,356	126
9	Joseph	17,162	29
10	Thomas	16,508	34
11	Edward	13,797	224
12	Ronald	12,061	638
13	David	12,026	35
14	Paul	11,854	262
15	Kenneth	11,410	294
16	Frank	10,962	514
17	Jack	9,838	15
18	Harold	9,543	993
19	Raymond	9,512	395
20	Billy	8,938	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.