Born in 1946 · Baby Boomers
Baby names of 1946
The Social Security name files, which cover every name given to at least 5 babies, list 3,195,328 babies born in 1946: 1,571,305 girls and 1,624,023 boys. Mary and James were the most popular names, and 29.8% of all babies got a top-10 name, up from 28.7% in 1936. The name most tied to 1946 is Sharyn: among girls, it was 14× as common that year as in the decades around it.
Quick facts
- Generation
- Baby Boomers
- Born 1946–1964
- Babies on record
- 3,195,328
- 1,571,305 girls · 1,624,023 boys
- Different names
- 5,686
- for girls, plus 4,018 for boys (5+ babies each)
- Top-10 names
- 29.8%
- of babies got one · girls 24.5%, boys 34.9%
Top 10 names of 1946
- 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 1946, 29.8% 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 1946
These names were far more common in 1946 than in the decades around it: the multiplier compares each name's share of 1946 babies with its average share 6–25 years before and after.
| Name | Sex | Rank | Vs. nearby |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sharyn | Girl | #280 | 14× |
| Paulette | Girl | #117 | 5.6× |
| Judi | Girl | #299 | 5.1× |
| Judy | Girl | #11 | 4.9× |
| Judith | Girl | #10 | 4.3× |
| Sharron | Girl | #260 | 4.2× |
| Dianne | Girl | #76 | 3.8× |
| Saundra | Girl | #264 | 3.7× |
| Lynda | Girl | #109 | 3.6× |
| Linda | Girl | #2 | 3.5× |
Names that peaked in 1946
Each of these reached its highest share of US babies in 1946, the high point in records going back to 1880. Rank is for 1946.
| Name | Sex | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Richard | Boy | #5 |
| Sandra | Girl | #6 |
| Dennis | Boy | #17 |
| Judy | Girl | #11 |
| Janice | Girl | #22 |
| Diana | Girl | #42 |
| Suzanne | Girl | #52 |
| Ronnie | Boy | #54 |
| Sue | Girl | #61 |
| Rosemary | Girl | #74 |
New to the top 1,000 in 1946
Names that made the national top 1,000 for the first time in 1946 (records go back to 1880).
Where are they now?
Top-100 names of 1946 that have since dropped out of the top 1,000. Ranks are for 1946 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