Popular baby names in District of Columbia, 1940

The most popular baby names in District of Columbia in 1940 were Mary for girls (366 babies) and John for boys (472). John ranked #3 nationally for boys. Social Security records list 12,464 babies born in District of Columbia in 1940 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 1940

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

Laverne: 15 babies, 4.8× the national rate
Yvonne: 44 babies, 3.5× the national rate
Delores: 44 babies, 2.8× the national rate
Ellen: 42 babies, 2.4× the national rate
Joan: 161 babies, 2.3× the national rate
Anne: 35 babies, 2.3× the national rate
Julia: 34 babies, 2.3× the national rate
Marion: 25 babies, 2.2× the national rate
Cynthia: 22 babies, 2.2× the national rate
Jean: 89 babies, 2.1× the national rate

Boys

Nathaniel: 15 babies, 3.3× the national rate
Warren: 24 babies, 2.4× the national rate
Stephen: 52 babies, 2.2× the national rate
Roland: 15 babies, 2.2× the national rate
Francis: 40 babies, 2× the national rate
Benjamin: 16 babies, 2× the national rate

Top 50 girls' and boys' names in District of Columbia, 1940

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1939	US rank
1	Mary	366	–	1
2	Barbara	341	–	2
3	Patricia	270	–	3
4	Joan	161	↑1	14
5	Margaret	141	↑1	11
6	Nancy	134	↑1	7
7	Joyce	127	↑4	13
8	Judith	125	↑5	4
9	Carol	113	↓1	6
10	Betty	106	↑2	5
11	Sandra	106	↑7	10
12	Shirley	105	↓8	9
13	Elizabeth	99	↓3	20
14	Linda	97	↑12	8
15	Dorothy	89	↓6	12
16	Jean	89	↑1	29
17	Gloria	87	↑2	30
18	Ann	73	↓2	35
19	Helen	73	↓5	18
20	Doris	65	↑1	31
21	Carolyn	64	↑3	15
22	Frances	64	↓7	28
23	Janet	58	↑2	19
24	Susan	56	↑9	36
25	Ruth	55	↓5	24
26	Virginia	55	↑1	21
27	Alice	54	↑1	32
28	Martha	54	↑13	26
29	Beverly	47	↑9	27
30	Bonnie	47	new	39
31	Brenda	46	↑16	42
32	Delores	44	↓10	83
33	Donna	44	↑17	23
34	Phyllis	44	↓2	33
35	Yvonne	44	↑7	>100
36	Ellen	42	new	74
37	Jane	41	↓2	47
38	Carole	40	↓9	49
39	Catherine	40	↓16	53
40	Janice	39	new	22
41	Elaine	38	↓5	50
42	Marie	38	↓5	41
43	Anne	35	↓13	84
44	Diane	35	↓10	45
45	Joanne	35	↓6	54
46	Kathleen	35	↓6	40
47	Geraldine	34	↓16	46
48	Julia	34	new	91
49	Evelyn	33	↓1	48
50	Mildred	33	↓4	58

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1939	US rank
1	John	472	–	3
2	Robert	465	↑1	2
3	James	437	↓1	1
4	William	419	–	4
5	Charles	262	–	6
6	Richard	231	–	5
7	George	172	↑1	11
8	Thomas	168	↓1	8
9	David	155	–	7
10	Joseph	154	–	12
11	Edward	129	↑1	16
12	Michael	123	↑2	18
13	Ronald	121	–	10
14	Donald	120	↓3	9
15	Paul	100	–	17
16	Kenneth	79	–	15
17	Frank	76	↑5	20
18	Raymond	64	↓1	22
19	Walter	58	–	25
20	Lawrence	57	↓2	36
21	Gerald	53	↑22	21
22	Stephen	52	↑8	49
23	Daniel	45	–	34
24	Arthur	43	↑8	33
25	Peter	42	↑2	43
26	Francis	40	↓2	61
27	Louis	40	↑13	50
28	Harry	39	↓7	47
29	Ralph	37	↓3	37
30	Ernest	36	↑15	58
31	Carl	35	↑7	32
32	Harold	35	↑17	23
33	Henry	35	↑6	31
34	Larry	34	↑7	13
35	Eugene	33	↓15	38
36	Philip	33	new	60
37	Anthony	32	new	46
38	Dennis	32	new	24
39	Stanley	32	↓10	59
40	Albert	31	↓3	41
41	Roger	31	↑7	26
42	Samuel	31	↓6	65
43	Douglas	29	↑4	56
44	Earl	29	↓11	52
45	Melvin	28	↓10	53
46	Leroy	27	new	66
47	Bernard	25	↓19	82
48	Frederick	25	↓23	68
49	Fred	24	new	40
50	Jerry	24	new	14

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