Popular baby names in Alabama, 1938

The most popular baby names in Alabama in 1938 were Mary for girls (2,190 babies) and James for boys (2,246). James ranked #2 nationally for boys. Social Security records list 56,822 babies born in Alabama in 1938 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in Alabama in 1938

Names given at least 15 times in Alabama that year and at least twice as common as in the US as a whole.

Girls

Willodean: 19 babies, 20.4× the national rate
Robbie: 55 babies, 6.9× the national rate
Gaynell: 15 babies, 6.5× the national rate
Jimmie: 83 babies, 6.1× the national rate
Annie: 732 babies, 6× the national rate
Pearlie: 54 babies, 5.8× the national rate
Essie: 67 babies, 5.6× the national rate
Willie: 294 babies, 5.5× the national rate
Mattie: 211 babies, 5.5× the national rate
Jannie: 29 babies, 5.4× the national rate

Boys

Rayford: 22 babies, 8.8× the national rate
Booker: 30 babies, 7.2× the national rate
Rayburn: 16 babies, 7.2× the national rate
Hoyt: 18 babies, 5.9× the national rate
Ollie: 28 babies, 5.8× the national rate
Houston: 17 babies, 5.7× the national rate
Hershel: 23 babies, 5.6× the national rate
Willie: 828 babies, 5.5× the national rate
Roosevelt: 90 babies, 5.5× the national rate
Huey: 22 babies, 5.4× the national rate

Top 50 girls' and boys' names in Alabama, 1938

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1937	US rank
1	Mary	2,190	–	1
2	Betty	1,241	–	4
3	Barbara	800	–	2
4	Annie	732	↑1	47
5	Dorothy	732	↑1	8
6	Shirley	628	↓2	5
7	Martha	564	–	26
8	Margaret	415	–	9
9	Carolyn	382	↑4	15
10	Doris	381	↓1	25
11	Patricia	326	↑5	3
12	Sarah	324	–	67
13	Peggy	322	↓3	35
14	Frances	295	↑3	23
15	Willie	294	↓4	>100
16	Helen	290	↓2	13
17	Ruby	274	↓2	61
18	Joyce	268	↑1	11
19	Elizabeth	266	↓1	17
20	Virginia	249	–	22
21	Alice	221	↑11	29
22	Bobbie	213	↑5	>100
23	Mattie	211	↓1	>100
24	Mildred	209	↓1	52
25	Nancy	202	↑5	7
26	Emma	201	↓1	96
27	Louise	187	↓6	59
28	Ann	179	↑7	32
29	Ruth	173	↓3	21
30	Lillie	172	↓2	>100
31	Edna	169	↓2	82
32	Evelyn	165	↓8	38
33	Juanita	165	↑4	80
34	Sara	158	↓3	>100
35	Ethel	157	↑4	94
36	Rosie	150	new	>100
37	Clara	148	↑4	98
38	Jo	147	↓2	78
39	Gloria	144	↑8	36
40	Janice	142	new	24
41	Minnie	142	↓1	>100
42	Bernice	141	↑6	>100
43	Nellie	140	–	>100
44	Bertha	136	new	>100
45	Carrie	136	↑5	>100
46	Patsy	135	↑3	55
47	Sylvia	135	new	56
48	Julia	131	new	>100
49	Marie	130	↓11	37
50	Linda	126	new	31

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1937	US rank
1	James	2,246	–	2
2	John	1,180	–	3
3	Robert	1,168	↑1	1
4	William	1,136	↓1	4
5	Charles	989	–	6
6	Willie	828	–	34
7	Billy	676	–	24
8	Bobby	554	↑1	27
9	Joe	475	↑2	28
10	George	470	↓2	11
11	Thomas	469	↓1	9
12	Jimmy	405	↑1	45
13	Jerry	396	↑1	17
14	Donald	395	↓2	7
15	David	339	↑1	8
16	Joseph	315	↑2	12
17	Henry	309	↓2	30
18	Edward	270	↓1	13
19	Richard	254	↑2	5
20	Frank	243	↑2	18
21	Johnny	237	↑3	63
22	Walter	232	↓3	26
23	Kenneth	230	↓3	14
24	Eddie	218	↑1	79
25	Harold	212	↓2	23
26	Jimmie	197	↑5	76
27	Roy	197	↑3	41
28	Charlie	194	↓2	>100
29	Paul	193	↓1	15
30	Arthur	180	↓3	32
31	Albert	174	↑4	37
32	Fred	174	–	38
33	Jack	174	↓4	25
34	Samuel	153	↑3	62
35	Carl	149	↑3	29
36	Howard	149	↑5	42
37	Johnnie	146	↑2	>100
38	Larry	146	new	16
39	Tommy	142	↑9	77
40	Curtis	141	↑4	>100
41	Eugene	137	↓8	33
42	Clarence	133	↓6	58
43	Ralph	128	↓1	35
44	Raymond	126	↓4	20
45	Ronald	122	–	10
46	Melvin	117	↑1	54
47	Leon	115	new	85
48	Jessie	114	new	>100
49	Gerald	113	↓15	19
50	Douglas	107	new	60

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