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The most popular baby names of 1946

SSA recorded 3,195,328 births in 1946 across all reported names — 1,571,305 girls and 1,624,023 boys.

Top 100 girls' names in 1946

Rank, births, and the change in rank against 1945.
#NameBirthsvs 1945
1 Mary 67,471 —
2 Linda 52,710 —
3 Patricia 46,297 +1
4 Barbara 45,126 -1
5 Carol 34,284 —
6 Sandra 31,692 —
7 Nancy 28,345 —
8 Susan 28,267 +2
9 Sharon 27,824 -1
10 Judith 22,310 -1
11 Judy 20,477 +2
12 Carolyn 19,902 —
13 Donna 19,770 +4
14 Betty 19,711 -3
15 Karen 19,647 +1
16 Kathleen 18,760 +3
17 Margaret 18,136 -2
18 Shirley 17,870 -4
19 Diane 15,835 +3
20 Joyce 15,209 -2
21 Janet 14,142 -1
22 Janice 14,039 +2
23 Dorothy 12,797 -2
24 Brenda 12,690 +5
25 Elizabeth 11,753 +1
26 Gloria 11,686 -3
27 Cheryl 11,526 +5
28 Joan 11,218 -3
29 Marilyn 10,711 -2
30 Beverly 10,430 +7
31 Virginia 10,015 -3
32 Martha 9,759 -2
33 Bonnie 9,510 +2
34 Pamela 9,367 +8
35 Jane 8,971 +1
36 Helen 8,852 -5
37 Jean 8,554 +1
38 Ruth 8,474 -5
39 Frances 8,450 -5
40 Ann 8,077 -1
41 Phyllis 8,048 -1
42 Diana 7,544 +1
43 Peggy 7,400 +2
44 Alice 7,363 -3
45 Connie 7,215 +2
46 Cynthia 6,895 +44
47 Elaine 6,803 -3
48 Catherine 6,367 +2
49 Gail 6,227 +3
50 Christine 6,202 +12
51 Doris 5,987 -5
52 Suzanne 5,948 +16
53 Jo 5,828 +7
54 Marie 5,758 -5
55 Lois 5,700 -7
56 Rita 5,533 +3
57 Joanne 5,506 -4
58 Ellen 5,237 +3
59 Wanda 5,235 -1
60 Rose 5,183 -6
61 Sue 5,144 +5
62 Jacqueline 5,083 +1
63 Kathryn 4,999 +2
64 Charlotte 4,970 -9
65 Evelyn 4,890 -8
66 Geraldine 4,849 -10
67 Sally 4,842 -3
68 Rebecca 4,840 +17
69 Paula 4,724 -2
70 Sheila 4,706 +19
71 Darlene 4,662 —
72 Carole 4,621 -21
73 Sherry 4,518 +31
74 Rosemary 4,486 +5
75 Laura 4,478 +2
76 Dianne 4,278 -4
77 Norma 4,266 -3
78 Katherine 4,197 +4
79 Kathy 4,179 +22
80 Eileen 4,168 -10
81 Anne 4,115 —
82 Sylvia 4,093 +1
83 Jeanne 4,045 +15
84 Anita 4,027 +16
85 Patsy 4,017 -1
86 Roberta 4,016 -11
87 Anna 3,999 -14
88 Maria 3,960 -2
89 Marcia 3,946 -1
90 Joann 3,945 -10
91 Louise 3,925 -13
92 Sarah 3,910 -16
93 Lorraine 3,886 -6
94 Lynn 3,884 +8
95 Maureen 3,684 +10
95 Theresa 3,684 +1
97 Annie 3,651 -28
98 Marsha 3,611 +15
99 Glenda 3,568 -7
100 Constance 3,419 +9

Top 100 boys' names in 1946

Rank, births, and the change in rank against 1945.
#NameBirthsvs 1945
1 James 87,438 —
2 Robert 84,136 —
3 John 79,267 —
4 William 60,034 —
5 Richard 58,870 —
6 David 46,444 —
7 Michael 41,194 +2
8 Thomas 38,877 —
9 Charles 38,215 -2
10 Ronald 31,858 —
11 Larry 28,447 —
12 Gary 26,931 +1
13 Donald 26,273 -1
14 Joseph 24,284 —
15 Kenneth 22,042 +1
16 George 21,575 -1
17 Dennis 21,447 +2
18 Paul 21,063 -1
19 Edward 18,585 -1
20 Jerry 17,567 —
21 Daniel 12,867 +3
22 Frank 12,667 -1
23 Roger 12,411 -1
24 Stephen 11,832 +2
25 Raymond 11,289 -2
26 Terry 10,678 +7
27 Gerald 10,033 -2
28 Steven 8,878 +15
29 Wayne 8,807 +6
30 Walter 8,668 -3
31 Lawrence 8,517 -1
32 Bruce 8,459 +16
33 Harold 8,373 -5
34 Douglas 8,336 -5
35 Jack 7,801 -3
36 Arthur 7,537 -2
37 Joe 7,536 -1
38 Peter 7,483 —
39 Carl 7,380 —
40 Willie 7,339 -9
41 Henry 7,317 -4
42 Jimmy 7,128 -1
43 Roy 6,925 -3
44 Anthony 6,771 +2
45 Billy 6,716 -3
46 Danny 6,650 +10
47 Johnny 6,611 -2
48 Ralph 6,587 -4
49 Alan 6,490 +3
50 Harry 6,027 -3
51 Fred 6,012 —
52 Albert 6,007 -3
53 Bobby 5,771 —
54 Ronnie 5,727 +13
55 Howard 5,694 -1
56 Gregory 5,672 +40
57 Eugene 5,670 -7
58 Mark 5,331 +14
59 Patrick 5,305 +4
60 Timothy 5,152 +10
61 Philip 5,093 -3
62 Dale 5,024 -1
63 Louis 4,918 -8
64 Mike 4,854 +5
65 Stanley 4,767 -6
66 Russell 4,741 -2
67 Leonard 4,704 -10
68 Barry 4,624 +16
69 Steve 4,570 +10
70 Samuel 4,523 -9
71 Ernest 4,395 -11
72 Bill 4,354 -6
73 Jim 4,336 -5
74 Allen 4,294 —
75 Frederick 4,231 +2
76 Norman 4,161 -11
77 Tommy 4,144 -2
78 Jeffrey 4,125 +13
79 Don 4,110 -6
80 Francis 4,006 -4
81 Glenn 3,892 +12
82 Earl 3,830 -11
83 Phillip 3,775 +2
84 Andrew 3,758 +2
85 Eddie 3,746 -4
86 Melvin 3,742 -8
87 Tom 3,624 +2
88 Marvin 3,600 -8
89 Clarence 3,567 -7
90 Leroy 3,472 -7
91 Lee 3,346 -4
92 Martin 3,333 -2
93 Rodney 3,304 +12
94 Alfred 3,238 -6
95 Ray 3,169 -3
96 Keith 2,860 +12
97 Herbert 2,818 -3
98 Gene 2,759 +2
99 Curtis 2,723 -2
100 Clifford 2,616 -1

Names that climbed fastest in 1946

Ranked by places gained against 1945, among names with at least 200 births in both years.

NameRank 1946Rank 1945Change
Cheri girls 304 491 +187
Debra girls 369 511 +142
Kristine girls 360 501 +141
Hope girls 379 496 +117
Cindy girls 284 389 +105
Darla girls 303 408 +105
April girls 352 457 +105
Denise girls 169 273 +104
Rhonda girls 306 409 +103
Greg boys 212 314 +102
Shelia girls 315 406 +91
Melody girls 322 405 +83
Rickey boys 294 371 +77
Sherri girls 429 504 +75
Brent boys 287 362 +75

Names that fell fastest in 1946

NameRank 1946Rank 1945Change
Truman boys 387 247 -140
Lottie girls 534 444 -90
Teri girls 549 464 -85
Freddie girls 537 456 -81
Cornelia girls 529 460 -69
Willa girls 447 379 -68
Leola girls 503 438 -65
Essie girls 414 350 -64
Alta girls 558 496 -62
Beulah girls 408 347 -61
Iva girls 506 447 -59
Jewel girls 429 372 -57
Eddie girls 513 457 -56
Sonia girls 525 469 -56
Melva girls 524 469 -55

Names that first appear in 1946

1946 is the earliest year these names clear the SSA reporting threshold of five births.

Names that peaked in 1946

For these names, 1946 is the single biggest year in the whole 1880–2025 record.