The 200 most popular boys’ names of 1940
3,937 different boys’ names were recorded in 1940, covering 1,159,172 births. These are the top 200.
| # | Name | Births |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | James | 62,481 |
| 2 | Robert | 61,198 |
| 3 | John | 54,786 |
| 4 | William | 44,779 |
| 5 | Richard | 37,425 |
| 6 | Charles | 31,689 |
| 7 | David | 27,690 |
| 8 | Thomas | 23,991 |
| 9 | Donald | 23,115 |
| 10 | Ronald | 20,741 |
| 11 | George | 18,315 |
| 12 | Joseph | 18,208 |
| 13 | Larry | 17,199 |
| 14 | Jerry | 15,213 |
| 15 | Kenneth | 15,132 |
| 16 | Edward | 14,405 |
| 17 | Paul | 14,097 |
| 18 | Michael | 13,228 |
| 19 | Gary | 12,573 |
| 20 | Frank | 10,595 |
| 21 | Gerald | 10,236 |
| 22 | Raymond | 9,567 |
| 23 | Harold | 8,080 |
| 24 | Dennis | 7,845 |
| 25 | Walter | 7,723 |
| 26 | Roger | 7,598 |
| 27 | Billy | 7,596 |
| 28 | Joe | 7,216 |
| 29 | Jack | 7,048 |
| 30 | Bobby | 6,882 |
| 31 | Henry | 6,822 |
| 32 | Carl | 6,752 |
| 33 | Arthur | 6,510 |
| 34 | Daniel | 6,225 |
| 35 | Willie | 6,176 |
| 36 | Lawrence | 6,173 |
| 37 | Ralph | 5,838 |
| 38 | Eugene | 5,804 |
| 39 | Wayne | 5,727 |
| 40 | Fred | 5,581 |
| 41 | Albert | 5,572 |
| 42 | Roy | 5,565 |
| 43 | Peter | 5,049 |
| 44 | Jimmy | 4,962 |
| 45 | Howard | 4,824 |
| 46 | Anthony | 4,769 |
| 47 | Harry | 4,681 |
| 48 | Norman | 4,576 |
| 49 | Stephen | 4,423 |
| 50 | Louis | 4,324 |
| 51 | Johnny | 4,006 |
| 52 | Earl | 3,944 |
| 53 | Melvin | 3,935 |
| 54 | Leonard | 3,817 |
| 55 | Bruce | 3,789 |
| 56 | Douglas | 3,732 |
| 57 | Dale | 3,699 |
| 58 | Ernest | 3,698 |
| 59 | Stanley | 3,694 |
| 60 | Philip | 3,674 |
| 61 | Francis | 3,607 |
| 62 | Don | 3,547 |
| 63 | Marvin | 3,502 |
| 64 | Clarence | 3,487 |
| 65 | Samuel | 3,364 |
| 66 | Leroy | 3,311 |
| 67 | Bill | 3,267 |
| 68 | Frederick | 3,096 |
| 69 | Alfred | 3,062 |
| 70 | Gene | 3,060 |
| 71 | Allen | 3,029 |
| 72 | Russell | 3,012 |
| 73 | Terry | 2,982 |
| 74 | Patrick | 2,883 |
| 75 | Herbert | 2,875 |
| 76 | Tommy | 2,827 |
| 77 | Ray | 2,795 |
| 78 | Jim | 2,715 |
| 79 | Phillip | 2,628 |
| 80 | Lee | 2,624 |
| 81 | Eddie | 2,576 |
| 82 | Bernard | 2,468 |
| 83 | Glenn | 2,465 |
| 84 | Andrew | 2,431 |
| 85 | Martin | 2,423 |
| 86 | Jimmie | 2,408 |
| 87 | Franklin | 2,391 |
| 88 | Alan | 2,377 |
| 89 | Leon | 2,318 |
| 90 | Theodore | 2,306 |
| 91 | Gordon | 2,296 |
| 92 | Tom | 2,287 |
| 93 | Jesse | 2,205 |
| 94 | Clifford | 2,185 |
| 95 | Jerome | 2,178 |
| 96 | Edwin | 2,116 |
| 97 | Curtis | 2,103 |
| 98 | Harvey | 2,088 |
| 99 | Bob | 2,082 |
| 100 | Lloyd | 2,067 |
| 101 | Ronnie | 2,055 |
| 102 | Clyde | 2,014 |
| 103 | Floyd | 2,012 |
| 104 | Vincent | 1,975 |
| 105 | Vernon | 1,941 |
| 106 | Alvin | 1,911 |
| 107 | Lewis | 1,900 |
| 108 | Jackie | 1,888 |
| 109 | Barry | 1,835 |
| 110 | Warren | 1,813 |
| 111 | Charlie | 1,762 |
| 112 | Leo | 1,752 |
| 113 | Herman | 1,670 |
| 114 | Wendell | 1,625 |
| 115 | Allan | 1,608 |
| 116 | Lester | 1,591 |
| 117 | Cecil | 1,589 |
| 118 | Arnold | 1,581 |
| 119 | Steven | 1,569 |
| 120 | Victor | 1,567 |
| 121 | Steve | 1,555 |
| 122 | Mike | 1,549 |
| 123 | Jon | 1,545 |
| 124 | Gilbert | 1,531 |
| 125 | Keith | 1,512 |
| 126 | Danny | 1,479 |
| 127 | Calvin | 1,471 |
| 128 | Benjamin | 1,446 |
| 129 | Johnnie | 1,445 |
| 130 | Glen | 1,434 |
| 131 | Darrell | 1,430 |
| 132 | Milton | 1,423 |
| 133 | Rodney | 1,397 |
| 134 | Duane | 1,388 |
| 135 | Timothy | 1,385 |
| 136 | Leslie | 1,370 |
| 137 | Chester | 1,353 |
| 138 | Freddie | 1,318 |
| 139 | Jay | 1,291 |
| 140 | Joel | 1,278 |
| 141 | Roland | 1,267 |
| 142 | Tony | 1,233 |
| 143 | Dean | 1,223 |
| 144 | Elmer | 1,220 |
| 145 | Claude | 1,194 |
| 146 | Wallace | 1,172 |
| 147 | Manuel | 1,170 |
| 148 | Jose | 1,169 |
| 149 | Mark | 1,165 |
| 150 | Sam | 1,147 |
| 151 | Willard | 1,140 |
| 152 | Wesley | 1,129 |
| 153 | Lonnie | 1,103 |
| 154 | Nicholas | 1,102 |
| 155 | Dan | 1,097 |
| 156 | Neil | 1,067 |
| 157 | Hugh | 1,060 |
| 158 | Marion | 1,049 |
| 159 | Ted | 1,047 |
| 160 | Lynn | 1,045 |
| 161 | Maurice | 1,030 |
| 162 | Jessie | 1,019 |
| 163 | Brian | 1,007 |
| 164 | Edgar | 985 |
| 165 | Max | 952 |
| 166 | Virgil | 938 |
| 167 | Oscar | 936 |
| 168 | Everett | 927 |
| 169 | Sidney | 926 |
| 170 | Morris | 912 |
| 171 | Dick | 911 |
| 172 | Lowell | 870 |
| 173 | Lyle | 864 |
| 174 | Karl | 855 |
| 175 | Bennie | 845 |
| 176 | Nathaniel | 833 |
| 177 | Luther | 824 |
| 178 | Ben | 814 |
| 178 | Benny | 814 |
| 180 | Delbert | 813 |
| 181 | Marshall | 809 |
| 182 | Nelson | 807 |
| 183 | Jeffrey | 799 |
| 184 | Earnest | 797 |
| 185 | Homer | 773 |
| 186 | Dave | 769 |
| 187 | Hubert | 762 |
| 188 | Alexander | 760 |
| 189 | Gregory | 756 |
| 190 | Carroll | 755 |
| 191 | Fredrick | 742 |
| 192 | Guy | 716 |
| 193 | Wilbur | 705 |
| 194 | Alton | 692 |
| 195 | Stuart | 680 |
| 196 | Juan | 677 |
| 197 | Donnie | 674 |
| 198 | Matthew | 664 |
| 199 | Horace | 661 |
| 199 | Otis | 661 |
Source: US Social Security Administration national baby-name files. A name given to fewer than five boys in 1940 is not published, so it is missing from both the count and the total above.