Popular baby names in District of Columbia, 1938

The most popular baby names in District of Columbia in 1938 were Mary for girls (347 babies) and Robert for boys (406). Social Security records list 10,283 babies born in District of Columbia in 1938 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in District of Columbia in 1938

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

Girls

Delores: 52 babies, 3.5× the national rate
Yvonne: 40 babies, 3.4× the national rate
Anne: 43 babies, 3.3× the national rate
Jean: 98 babies, 2.8× the national rate
Harriet: 17 babies, 2.7× the national rate
Bernice: 25 babies, 2.4× the national rate
Margaret: 155 babies, 2.2× the national rate
Susan: 35 babies, 2.2× the national rate
Constance: 22 babies, 2.2× the national rate
Christine: 18 babies, 2.2× the national rate

Boys

Bernard: 40 babies, 3.1× the national rate
Roland: 20 babies, 2.9× the national rate
Maurice: 16 babies, 2.9× the national rate
Theodore: 27 babies, 2.4× the national rate
Francis: 43 babies, 2.3× the national rate
Melvin: 41 babies, 2.3× the national rate
Lewis: 21 babies, 2.3× the national rate
Benjamin: 15 babies, 2.2× the national rate
Michael: 90 babies, 2.1× the national rate
Lawrence: 60 babies, 2.1× the national rate

Top 50 girls' and boys' names in District of Columbia, 1938

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1937	US rank
1	Mary	347	–	1
2	Barbara	340	–	2
3	Patricia	197	–	3
4	Margaret	155	↑4	9
5	Joan	138	–	10
6	Shirley	115	↓2	5
7	Nancy	110	↓1	7
8	Jean	98	↓1	27
9	Dorothy	96	↑3	8
10	Carol	95	↑3	6
11	Betty	94	↓2	4
12	Elizabeth	93	↓2	17
13	Joyce	86	↑2	11
14	Helen	71	↓3	13
15	Sandra	56	↑9	14
16	Janet	55	↑9	16
17	Doris	54	↓3	25
18	Delores	52	↑1	75
19	Frances	51	↓2	23
20	Judith	50	↑7	12
21	Ann	48	↓5	32
22	Beverly	48	↑16	18
23	Gloria	46	↓3	36
24	Carolyn	45	↑4	15
25	Catherine	44	↑12	48
26	Anne	43	↑10	84
27	Marie	43	↓6	37
28	Ruth	41	↓6	21
29	Yvonne	40	↓6	>100
30	Phyllis	38	↑20	28
31	Sylvia	38	–	56
32	Alice	36	↑11	29
33	Susan	35	new	71
34	Virginia	35	↓16	22
35	Carole	34	new	46
36	Joanne	34	new	57
37	Geraldine	33	new	45
38	Jane	33	↑1	44
39	Janice	33	new	24
40	Jacqueline	32	↓14	69
41	Martha	31	↓7	26
42	Charlotte	30	new	70
43	Mildred	30	↓13	52
44	Linda	28	new	31
45	Eleanor	26	↓13	60
46	Evelyn	26	↓17	38
47	Sarah	26	new	67
48	Bernice	25	new	>100
49	June	25	↓16	79
50	Roberta	25	new	73

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1937	US rank
1	Robert	406	–	1
2	John	380	↑1	3
3	William	337	↑1	4
4	James	332	↓2	2
5	Charles	234	–	6
6	Richard	191	–	5
7	Thomas	166	–	9
8	David	155	↑2	8
9	Joseph	145	–	12
10	Donald	131	↑1	7
11	George	131	↓3	11
12	Edward	116	↑1	13
13	Michael	90	↑3	21
14	Ronald	84	–	10
15	Raymond	73	–	20
16	Kenneth	64	↑4	14
17	Lawrence	60	↑5	36
18	Paul	58	↓6	15
19	Frank	51	–	18
20	Francis	43	↑15	51
21	Melvin	41	↑6	54
22	Bernard	40	↑4	75
23	Walter	39	↓6	26
24	Daniel	37	↑10	39
25	Ralph	37	↑11	35
26	Eugene	36	↓2	33
27	Harry	36	↓6	44
28	Henry	36	↑4	30
29	Arthur	35	↓11	32
30	Albert	32	↓5	37
31	Norman	31	↑13	43
32	Peter	31	↑18	48
33	Anthony	30	new	46
34	Gerald	30	↓4	19
35	Carl	28	↓4	29
36	Frederick	28	↓8	71
37	Howard	27	↓4	42
38	Theodore	27	new	84
39	Alfred	26	↓2	69
40	Ernest	26	↓1	55
41	Harold	25	↓3	23
42	Jack	25	↑5	25
43	Larry	25	new	16
44	Samuel	25	new	62
45	Clarence	24	↓16	58
46	Earl	24	↓23	50
47	Dennis	22	new	49
48	Stanley	22	↓3	59
49	Alan	21	new	91
50	Douglas	21	new	60

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