Popular Names of 1946

The 20 most popular names given to female and to male babies born in 1946, as recorded, with each name’s rank in 2025.

Table 1. Female names, 1946
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	Mary	67,471	125
2	Linda	52,710	902
3	Patricia	46,297	1,336
4	Barbara	45,126	968
5	Carol	34,284	2,242
6	Sandra	31,692	1,210
7	Nancy	28,345	967
8	Susan	28,267	1,091
9	Sharon	27,824	1,256
10	Judith	22,310	790
11	Judy	20,477	1,874
12	Carolyn	19,902	1,222
13	Donna	19,770	1,965
14	Betty	19,711	1,113
15	Karen	19,647	1,281
16	Kathleen	18,760	1,156
17	Margaret	18,136	112
18	Shirley	17,870	1,586
19	Diane	15,835	2,620
20	Joyce	15,209	1,074

Table 2. Male names, 1946
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	James	87,438	6
2	Robert	84,136	92
3	John	79,267	23
4	William	60,034	9
5	Richard	58,870	234
6	David	46,444	35
7	Michael	41,194	21
8	Thomas	38,877	34
9	Charles	38,215	48
10	Ronald	31,858	638
11	Larry	28,447	1,085
12	Gary	26,931	1,073
13	Donald	26,273	690
14	Joseph	24,284	29
15	Kenneth	22,042	294
16	George	21,575	126
17	Dennis	21,447	707
18	Paul	21,063	262
19	Edward	18,585	224
20	Jerry	17,567	907

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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.