Popular Names of 1947

The 20 most popular names given to female and to male babies born in 1947, as recorded, with each name’s rank in 2025.

Table 1. Female names, 1947
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	Linda	99,692	902
2	Mary	71,690	125
3	Patricia	51,278	1,336
4	Barbara	48,800	968
5	Sandra	34,779	1,210
6	Carol	33,543	2,242
7	Nancy	32,445	967
8	Susan	31,952	1,091
9	Sharon	28,533	1,256
10	Donna	23,517	1,965
11	Kathleen	22,095	1,156
12	Judith	21,996	790
13	Karen	21,648	1,281
14	Judy	21,037	1,874
15	Carolyn	20,742	1,222
16	Margaret	20,101	112
17	Betty	18,966	1,113
18	Diane	17,775	2,620
19	Shirley	17,648	1,586
20	Joyce	15,915	1,074

Table 2. Male names, 1947
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	James	94,767	6
2	Robert	91,655	92
3	John	88,324	23
4	William	67,002	9
5	Richard	58,532	234
6	David	57,810	35
7	Michael	50,506	21
8	Thomas	44,842	34
9	Charles	40,781	48
10	Larry	34,946	1,085
11	Ronald	34,899	638
12	Gary	30,029	1,073
13	Donald	28,260	690
14	Joseph	27,520	29
15	Kenneth	24,586	294
16	George	23,916	126
17	Dennis	23,686	707
18	Paul	22,796	262
19	Edward	20,539	224
20	Jerry	18,794	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.