Top 100 Most Popular U.S. Baby Names Of 1940

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1940 Popular Names U.S. - Top 100 Baby Names
				Change from 1939						Change from 1939
Girls		Number of Girls	%	Rank	Number	Boys		Number of Boys	%	Rank	Number
1	Mary	56,203	4.758	0	1,302	1	James	62,473	5.267	1	2,846
2	Barbara	36,734	3.110	0	-524	2	Robert	61,196	5.160	-1	1,551
3	Patricia	32,664	2.765	0	2,958	3	John	54,779	4.619	0	3,764
4	Judith	22,382	1.895	4	5,756	4	William	44,768	3.775	0	2,691
5	Betty	22,074	1.869	-1	-1,567	5	Richard	37,415	3.155	0	2,042
6	Carol	21,761	1.842	0	1,595	6	Charles	31,684	2.671	0	897
7	Nancy	19,732	1.670	0	6	7	David	27,687	2.334	0	2,325
8	Linda	18,369	1.555	7	7,655	8	Thomas	23,987	2.022	1	1,859
9	Shirley	17,878	1.513	-4	-2,567	9	Donald	23,106	1.948	-1	-950
10	Sandra	16,150	1.367	3	4,180	10	Ronald	20,730	1.748	0	895
11	Margaret	15,058	1.275	-1	106	11	George	18,309	1.544	0	421
12	Dorothy	14,875	1.259	-3	-296	12	Joseph	18,207	1.535	0	491
13	Joyce	14,802	1.253	-1	1,408	13	Larry	17,200	1.450	1	2,671
14	Joan	13,286	1.125	-3	-854	14	Jerry	15,200	1.282	2	1,472
15	Carolyn	12,654	1.071	-1	1,362	15	Kenneth	15,134	1.276	-2	424
16	Judy	11,384	0.964	12	3,303	16	Edward	14,400	1.214	-1	-27
17	Sharon	11,118	0.941	6	2,104	17	Paul	14,101	1.189	0	768
18	Helen	10,200	0.863	-2	-218	18	Michael	13,228	1.115	0	2,404
19	Janet	10,104	0.855	-2	-11	19	Gary	12,571	1.060	2	2,890
20	Elizabeth	9,952	0.842	-2	245	20	Frank	10,595	0.893	0	607
21	Virginia	9,554	0.809	0	327	21	Gerald	10,239	0.863	-2	186
22	Janice	9,315	0.789	2	536	22	Raymond	9,568	0.807	0	321
23	Donna	9,231	0.781	-3	-139	23	Harold	8,078	0.681	0	-222
24	Ruth	8,885	0.752	-2	-175	24	Dennis	7,845	0.661	10	1,632
25	Marilyn	8,701	0.737	-6	-838	25	Walter	7,724	0.651	0	405
26	Martha	8,692	0.736	1	200	26	Roger	7,598	0.641	2	445
27	Beverly	8,657	0.733	-2	-44	27	Billy	7,596	0.640	-3	126
28	Frances	8,619	0.730	-2	41	28	Joe	7,222	0.609	-1	33
29	Jean	8,066	0.683	3	777	29	Jack	7,046	0.594	-3	-261
30	Gloria	8,025	0.679	6	2,086	30	Bobby	6,882	0.580	-1	-176
31	Doris	7,767	0.658	-2	82	31	Henry	6,819	0.575	0	260
32	Alice	7,602	0.644	-1	234	32	Carl	6,754	0.569	-2	160
33	Phyllis	7,416	0.628	-3	-174	33	Arthur	6,508	0.549	-1	127
34	Karen	7,283	0.617	5	1,741	34	Daniel	6,221	0.525	4	425
35	Ann	7,195	0.609	-2	645	35	Willie	6,173	0.520	-2	-132
36	Susan	6,755	0.572	8	1,868	36	Lawrence	6,171	0.520	0	289
37	Peggy	6,127	0.519	-3	78	37	Ralph	5,835	0.492	-2	-122
38	Lois	6,126	0.519	-3	93	38	Eugene	5,798	0.489	-1	-77
39	Bonnie	5,958	0.504	22	2,071	39	Wayne	5,726	0.483	0	73
40	Kathleen	5,697	0.482	8	1,041	40	Fred	5,585	0.471	0	50
41	Marie	5,542	0.469	-4	-347	41	Albert	5,571	0.470	0	94
42	Brenda	5,441	0.461	44	2,685	42	Roy	5,565	0.469	0	411
43	Norma	5,334	0.452	-5	-493	43	Peter	5,048	0.426	3	407
44	Rose	5,198	0.440	-2	158	44	Jimmy	4,961	0.418	-1	209
45	Diane	5,173	0.438	6	834	45	Howard	4,825	0.407	3	217
46	Geraldine	5,152	0.436	-5	-7	46	Anthony	4,766	0.402	1	157
47	Jane	5,090	0.431	-1	320	47	Harry	4,678	0.394	-2	15
48	Evelyn	4,984	0.422	-8	-345	48	Norman	4,575	0.386	-4	-166
49	Carole	4,789	0.405	-2	110	49	Stephen	4,422	0.373	16	1,246
50	Elaine	4,782	0.405	-5	-3	50	Louis	4,324	0.365	-1	100

United States name popularity data is provided by the Social Security Administration and is based on Social Security card applications.

Data for a given year is not made available until well into the next year.

Data reflects what was recorded and has not been edited for errors, so for example the gender associated with a name may be incorrect.

The more babies that are given a particular name, the higher the popularity ranking. If multiple names have the same usage, the tie is broken by assigning popularity rank in alphabetical order. Therefore in the case of names with fewer occurrences, names with the same number of occurrences may have vastly different rankings because they will be interranked alphabetically.

To safeguard privacy, the SSA does not include names with less than 5 occurrences.

Please note, we update the data each May when the SSA releases new figures. All data changes at that time, including previous years, which will change minutely based on new information.