Popular baby names in Delaware, 1940

The most popular baby names in Delaware in 1940 were Mary for girls (115 babies) and William for boys (142). William ranked #4 nationally for boys. Social Security records list 3,418 babies born in Delaware in 1940 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in Delaware in 1940

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

Girls

Charlotte: 23 babies, 3.8× the national rate
Joanne: 23 babies, 3.7× the national rate
Geraldine: 21 babies, 2.9× the national rate
Marie: 22 babies, 2.8× the national rate
Catherine: 17 babies, 2.7× the national rate
Elizabeth: 34 babies, 2.5× the national rate
Jane: 18 babies, 2.5× the national rate
Margaret: 50 babies, 2.4× the national rate
Joyce: 49 babies, 2.4× the national rate
Joan: 42 babies, 2.3× the national rate

Boys

Francis: 25 babies, 4.4× the national rate
Harry: 28 babies, 3.8× the national rate
Louis: 17 babies, 2.5× the national rate
Joseph: 67 babies, 2.3× the national rate
Raymond: 34 babies, 2.3× the national rate
Daniel: 23 babies, 2.3× the national rate
Lawrence: 22 babies, 2.3× the national rate
Walter: 25 babies, 2.1× the national rate
Anthony: 16 babies, 2.1× the national rate
Howard: 16 babies, 2.1× the national rate

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

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1939	US rank
1	Mary	115	–	1
2	Barbara	81	–	2
3	Patricia	80	–	3
4	Margaret	50	↑2	11
5	Joyce	49	↓1	13
6	Nancy	46	↑2	7
7	Joan	42	↑4	14
8	Dorothy	38	↓3	12
9	Elizabeth	34	↑3	20
10	Betty	33	↓1	5
11	Carolyn	32	↑9	15
12	Shirley	30	↓5	9
13	Carol	29	↓3	6
14	Virginia	28	↑3	21
15	Janet	26	↓2	19
16	Jean	26	↑22	29
17	Judith	26	↑7	4
18	Sandra	25	↑5	10
19	Doris	24	↓5	31
20	Ruth	24	↓5	24
21	Ann	23	↓5	35
22	Charlotte	23	↑25	55
23	Joanne	23	↓4	54
24	Marie	22	↑9	41
25	Geraldine	21	↑4	46
26	Phyllis	20	↓8	33
27	Frances	18	↓5	28
28	Helen	18	↓7	18
29	Jane	18	↑6	47
30	Catherine	17	↓5	53
31	Kathleen	17	↑12	40
32	Lois	17	–	38
33	Alice	16	↓7	32
34	Beverly	14	↓6	27
35	Anna	13	↑1	51
36	Eleanor	13	↓5	68
37	Janice	13	↓10	22
38	Linda	13	new	8
39	Rose	13	new	44
40	Susan	13	↑6	36
41	Diane	12	new	45
42	Gloria	12	new	30
43	Norma	12	↑2	43
44	Brenda	11	new	42
45	Dolores	11	↓8	67
46	Evelyn	11	new	48
47	Carole	10	new	49
48	Elaine	10	↓18	50
49	Sarah	10	new	60
50	Thelma	10	new	>100

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1939	US rank
1	William	142	↑2	4
2	Robert	137	–	2
3	John	128	↓2	3
4	James	124	–	1
5	Charles	85	–	6
6	Richard	84	–	5
7	Joseph	67	↑1	12
8	George	59	↑1	11
9	Thomas	55	↑1	8
10	Donald	47	↑3	9
11	Ronald	47	–	10
12	David	42	↓5	7
13	Raymond	34	↑12	22
14	Edward	31	↓2	16
15	Kenneth	29	↑2	15
16	Harry	28	–	47
17	Frank	27	↑9	20
18	Paul	27	↓3	17
19	Francis	25	↓5	61
20	Walter	25	↓2	25
21	Daniel	23	–	34
22	Michael	23	↓3	18
23	Lawrence	22	↑1	36
24	Henry	19	↑12	31
25	Louis	17	↑9	50
26	Ralph	17	↑18	37
27	Anthony	16	↑12	46
28	Eugene	16	↑4	38
29	Howard	16	↓6	45
30	Albert	15	↓3	41
31	Norman	15	new	48
32	Harold	14	↓4	23
33	Wayne	14	↓13	39
34	Jack	13	new	29
35	Peter	13	new	43
36	Carl	12	↓6	32
37	Ernest	12	new	58
38	Roger	12	↓1	26
39	Gene	11	new	70
40	Gerald	11	↓18	21
41	Stephen	11	new	49
42	Arthur	10	↓7	33
43	Clarence	10	↓12	64
44	Harvey	10	↑3	98
45	Franklin	9	new	87
46	Fred	9	new	40
47	Frederick	9	new	68
48	Larry	9	↓15	13
49	Samuel	9	↓11	65
50	Theodore	9	new	90

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