Popular baby names in Alabama, 1940

The most popular baby names in Alabama in 1940 were Mary for girls (2,078 babies) and James for boys (2,284). Social Security records list 58,347 babies born in Alabama in 1940 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in Alabama in 1940

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, 25.4× the national rate
Gussie: 27 babies, 8.1× the national rate
Charlie: 23 babies, 6.6× the national rate
Lorine: 21 babies, 6.4× the national rate
Jimmie: 78 babies, 6.3× the national rate
Callie: 28 babies, 6.2× the national rate
Mattie: 205 babies, 6.1× the national rate
Annie: 654 babies, 6× the national rate
Syble: 17 babies, 6× the national rate
Willie: 291 babies, 5.8× the national rate

Boys

Woodie: 16 babies, 14.3× the national rate
Rayburn: 15 babies, 9.6× the national rate
Mose: 17 babies, 8.7× the national rate
Hoyt: 17 babies, 7.8× the national rate
Rayford: 18 babies, 7.5× the national rate
Major: 21 babies, 6.7× the national rate
Windell: 19 babies, 6.6× the national rate
Booker: 24 babies, 6.2× the national rate
Willie: 859 babies, 5.6× the national rate
Roosevelt: 81 babies, 5.1× the national rate

Top 50 girls' and boys' names in Alabama, 1940

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1939	US rank
1	Mary	2,078	–	1
2	Betty	1,158	–	5
3	Barbara	817	–	2
4	Dorothy	663	↑1	12
5	Annie	654	↓1	56
6	Shirley	572	–	9
7	Martha	536	–	26
8	Patricia	511	–	3
9	Margaret	419	↑1	11
10	Carolyn	408	↓1	15
11	Doris	391	↑2	31
12	Linda	366	↑11	8
13	Peggy	335	↓2	37
14	Sarah	307	↓2	60
15	Joyce	304	↑3	13
16	Elizabeth	294	–	20
17	Virginia	294	↑3	21
18	Willie	291	↓4	>100
19	Helen	281	↓4	18
20	Ruby	265	↓1	66
21	Frances	263	↓4	28
22	Alice	248	–	32
23	Mattie	205	↑1	>100
24	Mildred	205	↑9	58
25	Nancy	204	↓4	7
26	Evelyn	189	↑1	48
27	Emma	186	↓1	94
28	Sandra	186	↑22	10
29	Gloria	181	↑9	30
30	Lillie	169	↑1	>100
31	Louise	168	↓2	59
32	Juanita	167	↓2	78
33	Janice	163	↑12	22
34	Geraldine	162	↑13	46
35	Glenda	158	new	>100
36	Ruth	158	↑4	24
37	Bobbie	157	↓2	>100
38	Ann	155	↓6	35
39	Edna	152	↓14	86
40	Brenda	151	new	42
41	Carol	151	↓7	6
42	Ethel	147	↑1	>100
43	Judy	145	new	16
44	Rebecca	144	new	96
45	Patsy	143	new	57
46	Charlotte	141	new	55
47	Sara	136	↓10	>100
48	Bonnie	134	new	39
49	Wanda	134	↓10	52
50	Julia	131	↓1	91

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1939	US rank
1	James	2,284	–	1
2	John	1,266	↑1	3
3	William	1,264	↓1	4
4	Robert	1,199	–	2
5	Charles	1,080	–	6
6	Willie	859	–	35
7	Billy	614	–	27
8	Jerry	558	↑4	14
9	Bobby	517	↓1	30
10	Thomas	502	↓1	8
11	George	464	–	11
12	Jimmy	455	↑2	44
13	Joe	428	↓3	28
14	David	414	↓1	7
15	Donald	379	–	9
16	Henry	321	–	31
17	Joseph	305	–	12
18	Edward	304	–	16
19	Kenneth	282	↑3	15
20	Johnny	277	–	51
21	Richard	277	–	5
22	Walter	274	↓3	25
23	Frank	241	–	20
24	Roy	226	↑1	42
25	Harold	204	↓1	23
26	Eddie	200	↑3	81
27	Paul	198	↑1	17
28	Samuel	193	↑9	65
29	Arthur	190	↓2	33
30	Charlie	189	↓4	>100
31	Larry	182	–	13
32	Ronald	174	↑12	10
33	Jimmie	169	↓3	86
34	Clarence	168	–	64
35	Eugene	161	–	38
36	Wayne	156	↑10	39
37	Carl	155	↓1	32
38	Raymond	153	↑3	22
39	Jack	150	↓7	29
40	Tommy	147	↑5	76
41	Fred	142	↓8	40
42	Howard	141	↑5	45
43	Jesse	141	↓1	93
44	Albert	140	↓6	41
45	Gerald	138	↓6	21
46	Johnnie	128	↓6	>100
47	Ralph	126	↓4	37
48	Curtis	113	↑1	97
49	Franklin	106	new	87
50	Leon	105	new	89

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