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The most popular baby names of 1948

SSA recorded 3,452,526 births in 1948 across all reported names — 1,697,908 girls and 1,754,618 boys.

Top 100 girls' names in 1948

Rank, births, and the change in rank against 1947.
#NameBirthsvs 1947
1 Linda 96,220 —
2 Mary 68,597 —
3 Barbara 46,826 +1
4 Patricia 46,140 -1
5 Susan 35,988 +3
6 Sandra 31,063 -1
7 Nancy 29,411 —
8 Carol 28,977 -2
9 Sharon 26,143 —
10 Kathleen 23,257 +1
11 Donna 22,033 -1
12 Karen 21,996 +1
13 Margaret 18,873 +3
14 Carolyn 18,623 +1
15 Judith 17,787 -3
16 Judy 17,706 -2
17 Brenda 17,700 +4
18 Betty 16,625 -1
19 Diane 16,607 -1
20 Shirley 16,121 -1
21 Joyce 14,380 -1
22 Pamela 14,281 +6
23 Janice 14,162 -1
24 Janet 13,977 -1
25 Cheryl 13,220 -1
26 Elizabeth 13,215 -1
27 Cynthia 12,240 +6
28 Gloria 11,690 -1
29 Dorothy 11,324 -3
30 Deborah 11,244 +32
31 Beverly 10,795 —
32 Martha 10,011 —
33 Marilyn 9,937 -4
34 Bonnie 9,817 +1
35 Christine 9,677 +10
36 Virginia 9,296 -2
37 Joan 9,275 -7
38 Peggy 9,089 +4
39 Jane 8,781 -3
40 Helen 8,301 -2
41 Catherine 8,244 +5
42 Frances 8,179 -3
43 Connie 8,055 —
44 Ann 8,025 -3
45 Ruth 7,903 -1
46 Phyllis 7,876 -9
47 Jean 7,774 -7
48 Diana 7,706 —
49 Alice 6,981 -2
50 Rebecca 6,795 +2
51 Gail 6,603 -2
52 Paula 6,600 +2
53 Elaine 6,403 -3
54 Kathryn 6,177 +1
55 Kathy 6,148 +9
56 Jo 5,986 -5
57 Wanda 5,918 +9
58 Jacqueline 5,838 +1
59 Rita 5,835 +1
60 Marie 5,786 -3
61 Sherry 5,717 +6
62 Rose 5,556 +3
62 Theresa 5,556 +23
64 Doris 5,548 -6
65 Joanne 5,499 -9
66 Suzanne 5,448 -13
67 Ellen 5,289 -6
68 Katherine 5,169 +8
69 Charlotte 5,164 -1
70 Lois 5,077 -7
71 Sheila 5,022 +2
72 Sally 5,012 -2
73 Laura 4,901 +1
74 Evelyn 4,840 -2
75 Maria 4,817 +4
76 Marsha 4,725 +12
77 Darlene 4,692 -6
78 Sue 4,675 -9
79 Marcia 4,640 +2
80 Lynn 4,609 -5
81 Vicki 4,365 +20
82 Teresa 4,217 +39
83 Geraldine 4,208 -5
84 Lynda 4,167 -7
85 Sarah 4,159 +8
86 Dianne 4,138 -3
87 Anne 4,122 +7
88 Maureen 4,077 +10
89 Anna 4,037 +3
90 Rosemary 3,870 -10
91 Eileen 3,838 —
92 Glenda 3,831 +4
93 Constance 3,811 +7
94 Joann 3,799 -5
95 Jeanne 3,789 -9
96 Lorraine 3,745 -12
97 Annie 3,721 +6
98 Patsy 3,714 -11
99 Louise 3,685 —
100 Sylvia 3,671 -3

Top 100 boys' names in 1948

Rank, births, and the change in rank against 1947.
#NameBirthsvs 1947
1 James 88,605 —
2 Robert 85,478 —
3 John 82,834 —
4 William 61,972 —
5 David 56,627 +1
6 Michael 52,566 +1
7 Richard 50,970 -2
8 Thomas 43,780 —
9 Charles 38,676 —
10 Ronald 33,527 +1
11 Larry 33,436 -1
12 Gary 28,397 —
13 Joseph 26,801 +1
14 Donald 26,442 -1
15 Kenneth 23,550 —
16 George 21,926 —
17 Dennis 21,765 —
18 Paul 21,252 —
19 Edward 18,983 —
20 Stephen 17,061 +1
21 Jerry 16,809 -1
22 Daniel 16,510 —
23 Steven 15,979 +1
24 Roger 12,818 +1
25 Frank 12,698 -2
26 Terry 12,136 —
27 Raymond 11,612 —
28 Bruce 11,065 +1
29 Mark 10,267 +18
30 Gerald 9,842 -2
31 Lawrence 9,768 +1
32 Gregory 9,724 +1
33 Douglas 9,468 -2
34 Wayne 8,682 -4
35 Walter 8,627 -1
36 Harold 8,144 -1
37 Peter 8,048 -1
38 Timothy 8,043 +14
39 Danny 8,009 —
40 Willie 7,971 +2
41 Anthony 7,878 —
42 Carl 7,829 -2
43 Jack 7,612 -6
44 Arthur 7,576 -6
45 Henry 7,421 +1
46 Alan 7,394 -1
47 Joe 7,288 -4
48 Patrick 7,192 +5
49 Roy 7,067 -1
50 Jimmy 6,927 -6
51 Ralph 6,915 -1
52 Johnny 6,862 -3
53 Billy 6,220 -2
54 Philip 6,162 +3
55 Albert 6,156 —
56 Dale 6,091 +7
57 Harry 5,945 -3
58 Jeffrey 5,929 +8
59 Ronnie 5,902 +2
60 Steve 5,742 -2
61 Eugene 5,608 -2
62 Bobby 5,581 -2
63 Howard 5,497 -1
64 Louis 5,386 —
65 Stanley 5,383 +2
66 Fred 5,376 -10
67 Russell 5,109 +2
68 Mike 5,045 -3
69 Phillip 5,018 +5
70 Samuel 5,002 +2
71 Leonard 4,781 —
72 Allen 4,755 +1
73 Glenn 4,740 -3
74 Barry 4,670 -6
75 Frederick 4,516 +3
76 Ernest 4,512 -1
77 Andrew 4,305 +5
78 Eddie 4,234 +2
79 Tommy 4,220 —
80 Francis 4,214 +4
81 Melvin 4,057 +4
82 Craig 3,985 +11
83 Earl 3,977 —
84 Bill 3,926 -8
85 Norman 3,894 -4
86 Jim 3,808 -9
87 Clarence 3,790 +1
88 Martin 3,698 +2
89 Keith 3,660 +2
90 Marvin 3,625 -1
91 Don 3,546 -5
92 Rodney 3,466 +2
93 Lee 3,445 -1
94 Tom 3,429 -7
95 Brian 3,358 —
96 Alfred 3,245 —
97 Leroy 3,234 +1
98 Randall 3,179 +8
99 Randy 3,141 +17
100 Ray 3,134 -3

Names that climbed fastest in 1948

Ranked by places gained against 1947, among names with at least 200 births in both years.

NameRank 1948Rank 1947Change
Shelley girls 391 577 +186
Belinda girls 381 542 +161
Melissa girls 317 460 +143
Melanie girls 241 350 +109
Jana girls 472 563 +91
Debra girls 218 303 +85
Julianne girls 508 590 +82
Kimberly girls 450 520 +70
Rhonda girls 248 316 +68
Antonia girls 417 479 +62
Heidi girls 538 599 +61
Kristine girls 231 291 +60
Alison girls 497 557 +60
Miguel boys 343 403 +60
Wendy girls 182 241 +59

Names that fell fastest in 1948

NameRank 1948Rank 1947Change
Judi girls 413 314 -99
Arleen girls 569 474 -95
Opal girls 507 431 -76
Shelby girls 500 425 -75
Margery girls 547 472 -75
Heather girls 567 499 -68
Sharyn girls 314 247 -67
Candy girls 414 352 -62
Ingrid girls 521 461 -60
Willa girls 530 471 -59
Mavis girls 541 484 -57
Kermit boys 460 405 -55
April girls 407 354 -53
Jeri girls 460 408 -52
Dick boys 286 234 -52

Names that first appear in 1948

1948 is the earliest year these names clear the SSA reporting threshold of five births.

Names that peaked in 1948

For these names, 1948 is the single biggest year in the whole 1880–2025 record.