Name.Baby Names by year 1930s 1939 Most Popular Baby Names of 1939 Social Security has card records for 2,267,352 people born in the U.S. in 1939. Mary was the top girl name (54,900 babies) and Robert the top boy name (59,666).
Top 100 names of 1939 Jump to the boys’ top 100 ↓
Girls 1–50 Top 100 girl names in the U.S., 1939, ranks 1–50 # Name Babies 2025 rank 1 Mary 54,900 #125 2 Barbara 37,257 #968 3 Patricia 29,701 #1,334 4 Betty 23,639 #1,113 5 Shirley 20,447 #1,581 6 Carol 20,166 #2,239 7 Nancy 19,723 #965 8 Judith 16,625 #788 9 Dorothy 15,169 #421 10 Margaret 14,949 #112 11 Joan 14,143 #1,085 12 Joyce 13,394 #1,071 13 Sandra 11,970 #1,207 14 Carolyn 11,290 #1,222 15 Linda 10,713 #902 16 Helen 10,420 #461 17 Janet 10,120 #2,778 18 Elizabeth 9,709 #17 19 Marilyn 9,538 #760 20 Donna 9,371 #1,962 21 Virginia 9,227 #525 22 Ruth 9,062 #173 23 Sharon 9,014 #1,250 24 Janice 8,778 #2,514 25 Beverly 8,706 #1,016 26 Frances 8,577 #318 27 Martha 8,493 #712 28 Judy 8,081 #1,872 29 Doris 7,687 #2,895 30 Phyllis 7,590 #11,932 31 Alice 7,365 #65 32 Jean 7,292 #2,117 33 Ann 6,551 #1,076 34 Peggy 6,050 #8,362 35 Lois 6,034 #1,666 36 Gloria 5,939 #654 37 Marie 5,890 #617 38 Norma 5,827 #2,002 39 Karen 5,541 #1,279 40 Evelyn 5,332 #8 41 Geraldine 5,160 #2,438 42 Rose 5,040 #114 43 Anna 4,929 #107 44 Susan 4,887 #1,085 45 Elaine 4,785 #304 46 Jane 4,771 #221 47 Carole 4,679 #10,107 48 Kathleen 4,656 #1,150 49 Catherine 4,577 #313 50 Wanda 4,557 #5,917
Girls 51–100 Top 100 girl names in the U.S., 1939, ranks 51–100 # Name Babies 2025 rank 51 Diane 4,340 #2,607 52 Sally 4,244 #1,150 53 Joanne 4,225 #2,607 54 Annie 4,155 #182 55 Mildred 4,137 #1,962 56 Patsy 4,111 #5,917 57 Joann 3,994 #3,028 58 Dolores 3,980 #2,564 59 Louise 3,956 #514 60 Marjorie 3,907 #1,016 61 Bonnie 3,887 #396 62 Sylvia 3,870 #300 63 Eleanor 3,810 #12 64 Marlene 3,773 #1,261 65 Loretta 3,769 #606 66 Charlotte 3,739 #2 67 Ruby 3,712 #64 68 Sarah 3,671 #90 69 Arlene 3,578 #1,631 70 Jo 3,524 #3,975 71 Roberta 3,409 #2,778 72 Jacqueline 3,388 #558 73 Gail 3,355 #8,362 74 Irene 3,331 #651 75 Darlene 3,287 #1,844 76 Kay 3,260 #3,903 77 Juanita 3,212 #2,778 78 Rita 3,188 #1,285 79 Delores 3,018 #5,722 80 Ellen 3,005 #1,062 81 Edna 2,904 #2,458 82 Jeanette 2,893 #2,387 83 June 2,867 #150 84 Josephine 2,837 #53 85 Anne 2,769 #619 86 Brenda 2,756 #1,525 87 Wilma 2,701 #3,645 88 Thelma 2,696 #4,661 89 Emma 2,685 #3 90 Yvonne 2,648 #2,051 91 Julia 2,635 #131 92 Sue 2,623 #8,860 93 Rosemary 2,612 #251 94 Theresa 2,611 #1,548 95 Lorraine 2,593 #1,043 96 Florence 2,592 #391 97 Anita 2,588 #1,341 98 Audrey 2,569 #86 99 Lillian 2,551 #57 100 Ethel 2,496 #4,172
Boys 1–50 Top 100 boy names in the U.S., 1939, ranks 1–50 # Name Babies 2025 rank 1 Robert 59,666 #92 2 James 59,636 #6 3 John 51,025 #23 4 William 42,071 #9 5 Richard 35,386 #234 6 Charles 30,789 #48 7 David 25,360 #35 8 Donald 24,056 #690 9 Thomas 22,129 #34 10 Ronald 19,837 #637 11 George 17,886 #126 12 Joseph 17,722 #29 13 Kenneth 14,715 #294 14 Larry 14,532 #1,084 15 Edward 14,427 #224 16 Jerry 13,729 #906 17 Paul 13,337 #262 18 Michael 10,828 #21 19 Gerald 10,057 #1,204 20 Frank 9,991 #513 21 Gary 9,684 #1,073 22 Raymond 9,252 #394 23 Harold 8,299 #991 24 Billy 7,474 #1,068 25 Walter 7,322 #251 26 Jack 7,306 #15 27 Joe 7,189 #991 28 Roger 7,155 #832 29 Bobby 7,057 #1,097 30 Carl 6,593 #1,132 31 Henry 6,561 #5 32 Arthur 6,380 #87 33 Willie 6,308 #1,315 34 Dennis 6,212 #707 35 Ralph 5,959 #1,046 36 Lawrence 5,882 #518 37 Eugene 5,869 #943 38 Daniel 5,797 #22 39 Wayne 5,653 #652 40 Fred 5,538 #1,932 41 Albert 5,477 #614 42 Roy 5,156 #525 43 Jimmy 4,753 #846 44 Norman 4,742 #1,196 45 Harry 4,661 #775 46 Peter 4,639 #187 47 Howard 4,613 #1,002 48 Anthony 4,610 #46 49 Louis 4,224 #249 50 Earl 3,896 #2,230
Boys 51–100 Top 100 boy names in the U.S., 1939, ranks 51–100 # Name Babies 2025 rank 51 Melvin 3,853 #958 52 Marvin 3,758 #699 53 Francis 3,721 #420 54 Leonard 3,711 #637 55 Ernest 3,688 #1,038 56 Don 3,589 #1,793 57 Stanley 3,570 #863 58 Douglas 3,564 #807 59 Dale 3,531 #1,409 60 Clarence 3,482 #1,499 61 Leroy 3,388 #883 62 Johnny 3,371 #457 63 Samuel 3,254 #18 64 Bruce 3,233 #536 65 Stephen 3,176 #383 66 Philip 3,174 #527 67 Bill 3,161 #5,208 68 Herbert 3,097 #2,641 69 Gene 3,014 #2,230 70 Alfred 2,990 #840 71 Frederick 2,972 #435 72 Allen 2,928 #578 73 Russell 2,833 #345 74 Ray 2,709 #791 75 Jim 2,636 #3,128 76 Bernard 2,624 #1,362 77 Tommy 2,622 #657 78 Lee 2,589 #725 79 Patrick 2,530 #235 80 Jimmie 2,524 #3,658 81 Eddie 2,511 #860 82 Gordon 2,508 #1,051 83 Terry 2,444 #1,115 84 Andrew 2,440 #73 85 Alan 2,330 #191 86 Leon 2,327 #138 87 Glenn 2,303 #1,443 88 Clifford 2,290 #1,352 89 Bob 2,244 #9,714 90 Theodore 2,196 #4 91 Martin 2,192 #335 92 Phillip 2,175 #651 93 Jerome 2,153 #1,256 94 Floyd 2,094 #2,230 95 Lloyd 2,087 #1,547 96 Edwin 2,063 #398 97 Tom 2,028 #2,183 98 Curtis 2,012 #984 99 Jesse 2,010 #184 100 Vernon 1,994 #1,382
Entered the top 100 in 1939
