Born in 1941 · Silent Generation
Baby names of 1941
The Social Security name files, which cover every name given to at least 5 babies, list 2,436,437 babies born in 1941: 1,208,119 girls and 1,228,318 boys. Mary and James were the most popular names, and 28.6% of all babies got a top-10 name, compared with 29.0% ten years later. The name most tied to 1941 is Shelby: among girls, it was 7.7× as common that year as in the decades around it.
Quick facts
- Generation
- Silent Generation
- Born 1928–1945
- Babies on record
- 2,436,437
- 1,208,119 girls · 1,228,318 boys
- Different names
- 5,085
- for girls, plus 4,002 for boys (5+ babies each)
- Top-10 names
- 28.6%
- of babies got one · girls 23.5%, boys 33.6%
Top 10 names of 1941
- Mary was already the #1 name for girls in 1935 and stayed there through 1946.
- James was the #1 name for boys every year from 1940 to 1952.
How many babies got a top-10 name?
In 1941, 28.6% 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 1941
These names were far more common in 1941 than in the decades around it: the multiplier compares each name's share of 1941 babies with its average share 6–25 years before and after.
| Name | Sex | Rank | Vs. nearby |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shelby | Girl | #213 | 7.7× |
| Judith | Girl | #6 | 6.2× |
| Carole | Girl | #48 | 5.4× |
| Myrna | Girl | #161 | 4.6× |
| Pat | Girl | #134 | 4.3× |
| Saundra | Girl | #263 | 4.1× |
| Sharron | Girl | #284 | 4.0× |
| Judy | Girl | #16 | 3.8× |
| Kay | Girl | #70 | 3.6× |
| Sondra | Girl | #227 | 3.6× |
Names that peaked in 1941
Each of these reached its highest share of US babies in 1941, the high point in records going back to 1880. Rank is for 1941.
| Name | Sex | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Jerry | Boy | #14 |
| Joyce | Girl | #13 |
| Lynn | Boy | #141 |
| Lorna | Girl | #298 |
| Lanny | Boy | #301 |
| Errol | Boy | #354 |
| Ruthann | Girl | #467 |
| Nedra | Girl | #519 |
| Suellen | Girl | #556 |
| Patricia | Boy | #475 |
New to the top 1,000 in 1941
Names that made the national top 1,000 for the first time in 1941 (records go back to 1880).
Girls
- Jerilyn135 babies
- Sharyn78 babies
- Sherri76 babies
- Suzan76 babies
- Nyla73 babies
- Trina73 babies
- Judyth71 babies
- Nikki68 babies
Boys
- Jeffry45 babies
- Karen44 babies
- Darell42 babies
Where are they now?
Top-100 names of 1941 that have since dropped out of the top 1,000. Ranks are for 1941 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