Popular Names of 1937

The 20 most popular names given to female and to male babies born in 1937, as recorded, with each name’s rank in 2025.

Table 1. Female names, 1937
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	Mary	55,641	125
2	Barbara	34,917	968
3	Patricia	26,838	1,336
4	Shirley	26,823	1,586
5	Betty	25,337	1,113
6	Carol	17,336	2,242
7	Nancy	17,074	967
8	Dorothy	16,572	421
9	Joan	15,301	1,087
10	Margaret	15,144	112
11	Joyce	11,808	1,074
12	Helen	11,453	462
13	Marilyn	9,739	761
14	Beverly	9,634	1,018
15	Ruth	9,602	173
16	Virginia	9,517	526
17	Elizabeth	9,385	17
18	Janet	9,363	2,791
19	Frances	9,057	318
20	Carolyn	8,941	1,222

Table 2. Male names, 1937
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	Robert	61,842	92
2	James	56,561	6
3	John	48,755	23
4	William	40,725	9
5	Richard	32,975	234
6	Charles	30,520	48
7	Donald	27,868	690
8	David	20,981	35
9	Thomas	19,772	34
10	George	18,439	126
11	Ronald	18,141	638
12	Joseph	17,322	29
13	Edward	14,930	224
14	Kenneth	13,219	294
15	Paul	12,881	262
16	Larry	10,320	1,085
17	Jerry	10,301	907
18	Frank	10,127	514
19	Raymond	9,571	395
20	Gerald	9,425	1,206

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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.