Popular Names of 1939

The 20 most popular names given to female and to male babies born in 1939, as recorded, with each name’s rank in 2025.

Table 1. Female names, 1939
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	Mary	54,900	125
2	Barbara	37,257	968
3	Patricia	29,701	1,336
4	Betty	23,639	1,113
5	Shirley	20,447	1,586
6	Carol	20,166	2,242
7	Nancy	19,723	967
8	Judith	16,625	790
9	Dorothy	15,169	421
10	Margaret	14,949	112
11	Joan	14,143	1,087
12	Joyce	13,394	1,074
13	Sandra	11,970	1,210
14	Carolyn	11,290	1,222
15	Linda	10,713	902
16	Helen	10,420	462
17	Janet	10,120	2,791
18	Elizabeth	9,709	17
19	Marilyn	9,538	761
20	Donna	9,371	1,965

Table 2. Male names, 1939
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	Robert	59,666	92
2	James	59,636	6
3	John	51,025	23
4	William	42,071	9
5	Richard	35,386	234
6	Charles	30,789	48
7	David	25,360	35
8	Donald	24,056	690
9	Thomas	22,129	34
10	Ronald	19,837	638
11	George	17,886	126
12	Joseph	17,722	29
13	Kenneth	14,715	294
14	Larry	14,532	1,085
15	Edward	14,427	224
16	Jerry	13,729	907
17	Paul	13,337	262
18	Michael	10,828	21
19	Gerald	10,057	1,206
20	Frank	9,991	514

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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.