Popular Names of 1940

The 20 most popular names given to female and to male babies born in 1940, as recorded, with each name’s rank in 2025.

Table 1. Female names, 1940
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	Mary	56,216	125
2	Barbara	36,736	968
3	Patricia	32,665	1,336
4	Judith	22,385	790
5	Betty	22,077	1,113
6	Carol	21,759	2,242
7	Nancy	19,737	967
8	Linda	18,370	902
9	Shirley	17,881	1,586
10	Sandra	16,153	1,210
11	Margaret	15,063	112
12	Dorothy	14,875	421
13	Joyce	14,801	1,074
14	Joan	13,292	1,087
15	Carolyn	12,657	1,222
16	Judy	11,382	1,874
17	Sharon	11,121	1,256
18	Helen	10,203	462
19	Janet	10,105	2,791
20	Elizabeth	9,955	17

Table 2. Male names, 1940
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	James	62,481	6
2	Robert	61,198	92
3	John	54,786	23
4	William	44,779	9
5	Richard	37,425	234
6	Charles	31,689	48
7	David	27,690	35
8	Thomas	23,991	34
9	Donald	23,115	690
10	Ronald	20,741	638
11	George	18,315	126
12	Joseph	18,208	29
13	Larry	17,199	1,085
14	Jerry	15,213	907
15	Kenneth	15,132	294
16	Edward	14,405	224
17	Paul	14,097	262
18	Michael	13,228	21
19	Gary	12,573	1,073
20	Frank	10,595	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.