BNN
86 years ago

Baby Names from 1940

2,302,685 registered births | 1,159,168 boys | 1,143,517 girls

← 1939 1940s Overview 1941 →
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Top 10 Baby Names of 1940

Top 10 Boy Names

1 James
62,481 births
2 Robert
61,194 births
3 John
54,784 births
4 William
44,781 births
5 Richard
37,425 births
6 Charles
31,690 births
7 David
27,691 births
8 Thomas
23,992 births
9 Donald
23,113 births
10 Ronald
20,740 births

Top 10 Girl Names

1 Mary
56,214 births
2 Barbara
36,735 births
3 Patricia
32,667 births
4 Judith
22,385 births
5 Betty
22,077 births
6 Carol
21,759 births
7 Nancy
19,737 births
8 Linda
18,369 births
9 Shirley
17,880 births
10 Sandra
16,154 births
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Top Unisex Names of 1940

Willie
6,175 boys 1,937 girls
Terry
2,982 boys 370 girls
Marion
1,049 boys 2,111 girls
Lee
2,623 boys 492 girls
Jimmie
2,408 boys 478 girls

Names used for both boys and girls with at least 10% minority-gender share.

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Notable Risers & Fallers in 1940

Names that jumped or dropped 50+ spots in the rankings compared to the previous year.

Biggest Risers

B Jeffrey
#284 → #183 (+101)
B Wendell
#206 → #114 (+92)
G Lynda
#220 → #165 (+55)
G Julie
#232 → #180 (+52)
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New to the Top 200 in 1940

Names appearing in the top 200 for the first time ever.

Lynda #165 Gayle #177 Julie #180 Jeffrey #183 Gregory #189 Lynn #193 Sondra #199
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1939 All Years 1941