Born in 1938 · Silent Generation
Baby names of 1938
The Social Security name files, which cover every name given to at least 5 babies, list 2,212,603 babies born in 1938: 1,103,456 girls and 1,109,147 boys. Mary and Robert were the most popular names, and 28.4% of all babies got a top-10 name, compared with 29.8% ten years later. The name most tied to 1938 is Shelby: among girls, it was 17× as common that year as in the decades around it.
Quick facts
- Generation
- Silent Generation
- Born 1928–1945
- Babies on record
- 2,212,603
- 1,103,456 girls · 1,109,147 boys
- Different names
- 4,995
- for girls, plus 4,035 for boys (5+ babies each)
- Top-10 names
- 28.4%
- of babies got one · girls 23.3%, boys 33.5%
Top 10 names of 1938
- Mary was already the #1 name for girls in 1935 and stayed there through 1946.
- Robert was already the #1 name for boys in 1935 and stayed there through 1939.
How many babies got a top-10 name?
In 1938, 28.4% of babies were given one of that year's 10 most popular names. Across all years, that share fell from 29.0% in 1935 to 7.5% in 2025.
Names that sound like 1938
These names were far more common in 1938 than in the decades around it: the multiplier compares each name's share of 1938 babies with its average share 6–25 years before and after.
| Name | Sex | Rank | Vs. nearby |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shelby | Girl | #142 | 17× |
| Myrna | Girl | #134 | 7.4× |
| Sonja | Girl | #180 | 6.4× |
| Rosalie | Girl | #66 | 5.1× |
| Deanna | Girl | #115 | 5.0× |
| Carole | Girl | #46 | 5.0× |
| Marlene | Girl | #51 | 4.8× |
| Claudette | Girl | #238 | 4.7× |
| Sondra | Girl | #222 | 4.4× |
| Pat | Girl | #149 | 3.8× |
Names that peaked in 1938
Each of these reached its highest share of US babies in 1938, the high point in records going back to 1880. Rank is for 1938.
| Name | Sex | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Barbara | Girl | #2 |
| Sally | Girl | #54 |
| Loretta | Girl | #62 |
| Rosalie | Girl | #66 |
| Jerome | Boy | #93 |
| Myrna | Girl | #134 |
| Allan | Boy | #119 |
| Freddie | Boy | #132 |
| Sonja | Girl | #180 |
| Nelda | Girl | #266 |
New to the top 1,000 in 1938
Names that made the national top 1,000 for the first time in 1938 (records go back to 1880).
Where are they now?
Top-100 names of 1938 that have since dropped out of the top 1,000. Ranks are for 1938 and 2025.
Girls
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data