Top UK babies' names from the 1940s
| Rank | Girls' names | Boys' names |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Margaret | John |
| 2 | Patricia | David |
| 3 | Christine | Michael |
| 4 | Mary | Peter |
| 5 | Jean | Robert |
| 6 | Ann | Anthony |
| 7 | Susan | Brian |
| 8 | Janet | Alan |
| 9 | Maureen | William |
| 10 | Barbara | James |
Girls' names
The most popular girls' names in the 1940s in the UK were Margaret, Patricia and Christine.
How did girls' names in the UK differ from in the USA?
The top 10 baby girl names in the USA were (UK position in brackets):
- Mary (4)
- Linda (24)
- Barbara (10)
- Patricia (2)
- Carol (12)
- Sandra (13)
- Nancy (-)
- Sharon (-)
- Judith (30)
- Susan (7)
The names Mary, Patricia, Barbara and Susan were popular in the UK and in the US.
The US names Sandra and Carol had some following in the UK. As did Judith and Linda. Linda was much more popular in the UK in the 1950s.
The top ten UK names less popular in the US were:
- Jean (USA 18)
- Ann (USA 34, Anne USA 91)
- Janet (USA 26)
- Christine (USA 129)
- Maureen (USA 172)
Christian names and social class
In 1947 John W Leaver started to make a list each year of the most popular Christian names given to girls and boys in birth and adoption announcements in The Times. He continued to do this up to 1973.
His list of girls' names for 1947 was as follows. Figures in brackets are where the names were on the top one hundred names of all births from 1944.
- Ann/Anne (6/20)
- Elizabeth (15)
- Mary (4)
- Jane (53)
- Susan (7)
- Margaret (1)
- Jennifer (18)
- Caroline (95)
- Diana (35)
Source: The Times 9 January 1948, page 5
Leaver's numbers are for all given names, not just first names. So there isn't a direct comparison.
However, we can conclude that Caroline, Jane and Diana were much more popular with the Times' readers than the general population. They could be considered 'posh' girls names.
Jennifer and Elizabeth were also more popular with Times' readers but were moderately popular names in the whole UK population.
Patricia, Christine, Jean, Janet and Barbara were less popular with Times' readers. So could be considered popular rather than 'posh' names.
Boys' names
Boys' names tend to be more traditional and less subject to fashion than girls' names. The top three boys' names from the 1940s in the UK were John, David and Michael.
How did boys' names in the UK differ from in the USA?
The top ten baby boy names in the USA were (UK position in brackets):
- James (10)
- Robert (5)
- John (1)
- William (9)
- Richard (11)
- David (2)
- Charles (38)
- Thomas (19)
- Michael (3)
- Ronald(26)
Ronald, Charles and Thomas were much more popular names in America than they were in Britain.
The top ten UK names less popular in the US were:
- Peter (USA 41)
- Anthony (USA 45)
- Brian (USA 112 )
- Alan (USA 55)
The most English names were Peter, Anthony, Brian and Alan.
Names common to both the UK and the USA were James, Robert, John, William, Richard, David and Michael.
Posh boys' names
The top ten boys' names announced in The Times in 1947, according to John Leaver were:
- John (1)
- Michael (3)
- Richard (11)
- David (2)
- Anthony (6)
- Peter (4)
- Charles (38)
- James (10)
- Christopher (16)
Figures in brackets are where the names were in the list of first names for 1944 in the UK.
There is less difference between the two lists compared to girls' names. Only Charles was a 'posh' name.
More popular names were Brian, Alan and William
References
I compiled the information about UK names from 'First names - The definitive guide to popular names in England and Wales', by Emma Merray and published by HMSO in 1995. The information refers to the year 1944.
The data for the US names was provided online by the United States Social Security Administration
Read more:
- Top UK babies' names in the 1920s
- Top UK babies' names in the 1930s
- Top USA babies' names in the 1950s
- Top UK babies' names in the 1950s
- Top UK babies' names in the 1960s
- Top UK babies' names in the 1970s
- Top UK babies' names in the 1980s
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