Popular baby names in Massachusetts, 1938

The most popular baby names in Massachusetts in 1938 were Mary for girls (1,275 babies) and Robert for boys (2,748). Social Security records list 56,847 babies born in Massachusetts in 1938 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in Massachusetts in 1938

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

Girls

Simone: 17 babies, 9× the national rate
Claire: 229 babies, 8.4× the national rate
Yvette: 18 babies, 8.2× the national rate
Therese: 37 babies, 6.1× the national rate
Priscilla: 146 babies, 5.6× the national rate
Noreen: 30 babies, 4.6× the national rate
Deborah: 47 babies, 4.5× the national rate
Maureen: 178 babies, 4.3× the national rate
Madeleine: 18 babies, 4.3× the national rate
Elinor: 31 babies, 4× the national rate

Boys

Antone: 16 babies, 13.1× the national rate
Normand: 44 babies, 11.7× the national rate
Kevin: 42 babies, 6.6× the national rate
Armand: 28 babies, 6.5× the national rate
Bradford: 16 babies, 5.8× the national rate
Rene: 28 babies, 5.7× the national rate
Dana: 19 babies, 5.6× the national rate
Earle: 17 babies, 5.6× the national rate
Francis: 442 babies, 4.3× the national rate
Gerard: 59 babies, 4.2× the national rate

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

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1937	US rank
1	Mary	1,275	–	1
2	Barbara	1,206	–	2
3	Patricia	1,098	–	3
4	Carol	1,005	↑1	6
5	Joan	848	↓1	10
6	Nancy	717	–	7
7	Judith	607	↑5	12
8	Margaret	533	↓1	9
9	Dorothy	499	↓1	8
10	Ann	486	–	32
11	Elizabeth	480	–	17
12	Sandra	428	↑7	14
13	Beverly	423	↓4	18
14	Jean	404	↓1	27
15	Marilyn	369	–	19
16	Janet	351	↑2	16
17	Elaine	342	↑5	42
18	Shirley	341	↓4	5
19	Helen	338	↓2	13
20	Joyce	335	↑11	11
21	Marie	330	↓5	37
22	Janice	327	↑5	24
23	Eleanor	292	↓3	60
24	Anne	268	↑2	84
25	Joanne	265	↑4	57
26	Ruth	264	↓1	21
27	Frances	262	↓4	23
28	Virginia	261	↓7	22
29	Jane	259	↑5	44
30	Lorraine	249	↓6	93
31	Carole	245	↓1	46
32	Claire	229	–	>100
33	Phyllis	229	↑2	28
34	Theresa	224	↑2	92
35	Pauline	221	↑2	97
36	Gail	219	↑11	77
37	Carolyn	215	↑2	15
38	Rita	196	↓10	74
39	Alice	194	↓6	29
40	Doris	184	↑8	25
41	Kathleen	182	new	58
42	Marjorie	182	↓2	53
43	Jacqueline	179	↑1	69
44	Maureen	178	↓1	>100
45	Sally	178	new	54
46	Sheila	176	new	>100
47	Catherine	175	↓9	48
48	Louise	170	↓3	59
49	Betty	169	new	4
50	Evelyn	158	new	38

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1937	US rank
1	Robert	2,748	–	1
2	John	2,201	–	3
3	Richard	1,788	–	5
4	William	1,380	–	4
5	James	1,190	–	2
6	David	1,017	–	8
7	Joseph	947	–	12
8	Paul	929	–	15
9	Edward	739	↑1	13
10	Thomas	731	↑3	9
11	Donald	719	↓2	7
12	George	708	↓1	11
13	Charles	676	↓1	6
14	Ronald	598	–	10
15	Francis	442	–	51
16	Arthur	404	↑2	32
17	Peter	382	–	48
18	Kenneth	379	↑1	14
19	Raymond	339	↓3	20
20	Frank	302	–	18
21	Anthony	294	–	46
22	Michael	286	↑1	21
23	Gerald	274	↓1	19
24	Walter	274	↑1	26
25	Roger	264	↑5	31
26	Albert	235	↑2	37
27	Lawrence	228	↓3	36
28	Daniel	227	↓2	39
29	Stephen	220	↑6	74
30	Frederick	214	↓3	71
31	Philip	207	–	64
32	Henry	201	↓3	30
33	Norman	191	↓1	43
34	Ralph	185	↓1	35
35	Alfred	170	↓1	69
36	Bruce	164	↑2	66
37	Louis	160	↓1	47
38	Ernest	148	↑2	55
39	Harold	142	↓2	23
40	Leonard	141	↑3	57
41	Leo	135	↓2	>100
42	Eugene	134	↓1	33
43	Carl	132	↑1	29
44	Stanley	127	↑2	59
45	Alan	125	↑3	91
46	Bernard	112	↓4	75
47	Fred	110	↑2	38
48	Russell	109	↓3	70
49	Herbert	105	↓2	68
50	Gordon	95	new	78

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