Popular baby names in Mississippi, 1940

The most popular baby names in Mississippi in 1940 were Mary for girls (1,557 babies) and James for boys (1,780). Social Security records list 44,412 babies born in Mississippi in 1940 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in Mississippi in 1940

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

Girls

Earlean: 34 babies, 26.9× the national rate
Christeen: 15 babies, 19.4× the national rate
Kattie: 22 babies, 18.2× the national rate
Rutha: 16 babies, 13.7× the national rate
Myrtis: 21 babies, 11.9× the national rate
Callie: 40 babies, 11.6× the national rate
Pearlie: 75 babies, 10.9× the national rate
Eddie: 62 babies, 10.9× the national rate
Earnestine: 90 babies, 10.5× the national rate
Magnolia: 16 babies, 10.5× the national rate

Boys

Jame: 16 babies, 14.2× the national rate
Wardell: 16 babies, 13.9× the national rate
Rosevelt: 18 babies, 13.3× the national rate
Williams: 18 babies, 13.1× the national rate
Sammie: 77 babies, 12× the national rate
Percy: 69 babies, 11.2× the national rate
Roosevelt: 128 babies, 10.7× the national rate
Otha: 15 babies, 10× the national rate
Johnie: 40 babies, 9.2× the national rate
Tommie: 94 babies, 9× the national rate

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

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1939	US rank
1	Mary	1,557	–	1
2	Betty	631	–	5
3	Dorothy	605	–	12
4	Annie	492	↑1	56
5	Barbara	456	↓1	2
6	Shirley	392	–	9
7	Martha	360	–	26
8	Willie	270	–	>100
9	Ruby	238	–	66
10	Peggy	236	↑4	37
11	Linda	235	↑17	8
12	Patricia	235	–	3
13	Helen	230	↑3	18
14	Doris	220	↓4	31
15	Rosie	209	↓2	>100
16	Carolyn	201	↓1	15
17	Emma	201	↑7	94
18	Margaret	198	↓7	11
19	Gloria	194	↑24	30
20	Elizabeth	191	↑7	20
21	Lillie	190	↑1	>100
22	Sarah	184	↓4	60
23	Alice	181	↓4	32
24	Mildred	176	↓4	58
25	Nancy	175	↓2	7
26	Frances	172	↓5	28
27	Bobbie	169	↓10	>100
28	Mattie	169	↑6	>100
29	Joyce	156	↑2	13
30	Virginia	155	↓5	21
31	Ruth	149	↑5	24
32	Clara	143	↑1	>100
33	Ethel	139	↓3	>100
34	Minnie	138	↑1	>100
35	Bernice	135	↓3	>100
36	Louise	133	↓10	59
37	Bertha	131	↑11	>100
38	Patsy	130	new	57
39	Edna	129	↑1	86
40	Catherine	121	new	53
41	Bessie	119	↓12	>100
42	Jessie	115	↓3	>100
43	Bonnie	114	new	39
44	Ida	110	↓2	>100
45	Carrie	109	new	>100
46	Ann	108	↑1	35
47	Hattie	106	↓9	>100
48	Ella	105	↓7	>100
49	Juanita	104	↑1	78
50	Jean	103	new	29

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1939	US rank
1	James	1,780	–	1
2	Robert	1,026	–	2
3	John	917	–	3
4	Charles	853	↑2	6
5	Willie	824	↓1	35
6	William	806	↓1	4
7	George	417	↑1	11
8	Billy	401	↑1	27
9	Thomas	390	↑2	8
10	Bobby	387	–	30
11	Joe	385	↓4	28
12	Henry	333	–	31
13	Jerry	306	↑3	14
14	Walter	263	↑1	25
15	David	261	↓1	7
16	Jimmy	229	↓3	44
17	Eddie	225	–	81
18	Richard	213	↑3	5
19	Jimmie	211	↑1	86
20	Frank	207	↓2	20
21	Joseph	205	↑1	12
22	Johnny	199	↑7	51
23	Charlie	190	↑3	>100
24	Edward	190	↓5	16
25	Paul	178	↓2	17
26	Roy	172	↑2	42
27	Jessie	164	–	>100
28	Donald	163	↓4	9
29	Albert	160	↓4	41
30	Johnnie	149	↑1	>100
31	Larry	140	↑3	13
32	Arthur	130	↓2	33
33	Eugene	130	↑4	38
34	Kenneth	129	↓1	15
35	Roosevelt	128	↑3	>100
36	Fred	124	↓4	40
37	Lee	123	↓2	80
38	Earl	119	↑9	52
39	Tommy	117	↑7	76
40	Leroy	116	↑2	66
41	Samuel	112	↓1	65
42	Curtis	109	↑7	97
43	Harold	109	↓7	23
44	Jesse	107	new	93
45	Melvin	104	new	53
46	Clarence	98	↓1	64
47	Howard	96	↓6	45
48	Tommie	94	new	>100
49	Louis	93	↓5	50
50	Carl	90	↓11	32

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