Popular Names of 1944

The 20 most popular names given to female and to male babies born in 1944, as recorded, with each name’s rank in 2025.

Table 1. Female names, 1944
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	Mary	62,476	125
2	Barbara	39,196	968
3	Linda	38,415	902
4	Patricia	36,874	1,336
5	Carol	30,456	2,242
6	Sandra	26,024	1,210
7	Nancy	23,218	967
8	Sharon	22,433	1,256
9	Judith	22,431	790
10	Betty	19,761	1,113
11	Carolyn	18,670	1,222
12	Judy	17,119	1,874
13	Susan	16,330	1,091
14	Margaret	16,320	112
15	Shirley	16,309	1,586
16	Karen	15,944	1,281
17	Donna	15,173	1,965
18	Joyce	14,770	1,074
19	Dorothy	13,379	421
20	Kathleen	13,004	1,156

Table 2. Male names, 1944
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	James	76,951	6
2	Robert	70,855	92
3	John	66,616	23
4	William	52,375	9
5	Richard	45,643	234
6	David	37,382	35
7	Charles	34,662	48
8	Thomas	31,604	34
9	Michael	26,717	21
10	Ronald	25,513	638
11	Donald	23,468	690
12	Larry	22,026	1,085
13	Joseph	21,176	29
14	George	20,419	126
15	Gary	20,058	1,073
16	Kenneth	18,093	294
17	Paul	16,661	262
18	Edward	16,482	224
19	Jerry	16,282	907
20	Dennis	13,676	707

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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.