Popular Names of 1936

The 20 most popular names given to female and to male babies born in 1936, as recorded, with each name’s rank in 2025.

Table 1. Female names, 1936
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	Mary	54,377	125
2	Shirley	35,161	1,586
3	Barbara	31,682	968
4	Betty	25,868	1,113
5	Patricia	23,916	1,336
6	Dorothy	17,666	421
7	Joan	17,072	1,087
8	Nancy	16,755	967
9	Margaret	14,596	112
10	Carol	14,520	2,242
11	Helen	12,234	462
12	Joyce	11,988	1,074
13	Marilyn	11,064	761
14	Virginia	9,650	526
15	Doris	9,226	2,909
16	Ruth	9,217	173
17	Beverly	8,901	1,018
18	Elizabeth	8,860	17
19	Frances	8,789	318
20	Jean	8,536	2,130

Table 2. Male names, 1936
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	Robert	58,500	92
2	James	54,694	6
3	John	47,683	23
4	William	39,398	9
5	Richard	33,494	234
6	Charles	29,101	48
7	Donald	28,639	690
8	Thomas	18,342	34
9	George	18,197	126
10	David	17,476	35
11	Joseph	17,453	29
12	Ronald	16,917	638
13	Edward	14,194	224
14	Kenneth	12,486	294
15	Paul	12,307	262
16	Frank	10,186	514
17	Raymond	9,459	395
18	Jerry	9,271	907
19	Gerald	9,018	1,206
20	Jack	8,857	15

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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.