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Names

Most popular baby names of 1938 in England and Wales

In 1938, the most popular names in England and Wales were Margaret for girls and John for boys. Here are the top 100, with how many babies got each name. The counts for England and Wales before 1996 come from a sample of local birth records, so they are much smaller than the real number of babies. The order is what matters.

← 19371939 →

Girls

  1. 1Margaret3,832
  2. 2Patricia2,435
  3. 3Barbara2,178
  4. 4Mary1,994
  5. 5Joan1,853
  6. 6Maureen1,547
  7. 7Sheila1,477
  8. 8Dorothy1,427
  9. 9Ann1,277
  10. 10Brenda1,208
  11. 11Kathleen1,078
  12. 12Elizabeth1,022
  13. 13Beryl1,016
  14. 14Doreen939
  15. 15Joyce933
  16. 16Sylvia900
  17. 17Anne832
  18. 18June823
  19. 19Irene790
  20. 20Pauline771
  21. 21Eileen755
  22. 22Valerie635
  23. 23Marjorie618
  24. 24Pamela535
  25. 25Shirley518
  26. 26Mavis506
  27. 27Norma495
  28. 28Janet488
  29. 29Rita472
  30. 30Audrey441
  31. 31Leslie432
  32. 32Betty377
  33. 33Catherine372
  34. 34Winifred354
  35. 35Christine353
  36. 36Lilian350
  37. 37Frances346
  38. 38Edna330
  39. 39Edith326
  40. 40Elsie324
  41. 41Marion320
  42. 42Judith318
  43. 43Josephine304
  44. 44Hilda296
  45. 45Marie280
  46. 46Jacqueline269
  47. 47Veronica269
  48. 48Florence267
  49. 49Hazel257
  50. 50Doris249
  51. 51Gillian246
  52. 52Alice243
  53. 53Marian242
  54. 54Ruth242
  55. 55Jennifer238
  56. 56Muriel233
  57. 57Vera225
  58. 58Marlene224
  59. 59Phyllis220
  60. 60Iris214
  61. 61Evelyn202
  62. 62Freda202
  63. 63Gladys195
  64. 64Enid188
  65. 65Teresa184
  66. 66Cynthia180
  67. 67Yvonne180
  68. 68Helen178
  69. 69Rosemary172
  70. 70Hilary170
  71. 71Annie169
  72. 72Olive168
  73. 73Susan159
  74. 74Ethel156
  75. 75Rose155
  76. 76Ellen154
  77. 77Wendy154
  78. 78Gwendoline152
  79. 79Angela137
  80. 80May137
  81. 81Elaine134
  82. 82Diana133
  83. 83Thelma133
  84. 84Jane128
  85. 85Eunice125
  86. 86Julia120
  87. 87Carol119
  88. 88Anita117
  89. 89Sarah116
  90. 90Agnes115
  91. 91Violet113
  92. 92Grace108
  93. 93Ivy107
  94. 94Stella107
  95. 95Beatrice104
  96. 96Mildred103
  97. 97Christina101
  98. 98Constance101
  99. 99Lily100
  100. 100Sandra96

Boys

  1. 1John6,073
  2. 2Brian2,734
  3. 3David2,535
  4. 4Peter2,446
  5. 5William2,410
  6. 6Jean2,384
  7. 7James2,097
  8. 8Robert1,676
  9. 9Michael1,659
  10. 10Thomas1,591
  11. 11Alan1,577
  12. 12Kenneth1,444
  13. 13George1,418
  14. 14Anthony1,276
  15. 15Derek981
  16. 16Ronald976
  17. 17Edward912
  18. 18Terence862
  19. 19Joseph829
  20. 20Roy823
  21. 21Raymond803
  22. 22Keith797
  23. 23Colin745
  24. 24Geoffrey683
  25. 25Arthur676
  26. 26Eric676
  27. 27Frank652
  28. 28Norman621
  29. 29Graham592
  30. 30Richard572
  31. 31Bernard550
  32. 32Frederick545
  33. 33Gordon544
  34. 34Charles538
  35. 35Albert507
  36. 36Francis507
  37. 37Malcolm445
  38. 38Dennis434
  39. 39Donald421
  40. 40Harold405
  41. 41Ian405
  42. 42Harry374
  43. 43Barry365
  44. 44Gerald355
  45. 45Jack349
  46. 46Stanley346
  47. 47Philip339
  48. 48Allan316
  49. 49Ernest316
  50. 50Leonard305
  51. 51Trevor304
  52. 52Henry292
  53. 53Bryan281
  54. 54Alfred269
  55. 55Christopher263
  56. 56Patrick248
  57. 57Walter247
  58. 58Douglas225
  59. 59Paul216
  60. 60Roger209
  61. 61Neville206
  62. 62Clifford204
  63. 63Reginald198
  64. 64Maurice183
  65. 65Kevin175
  66. 66Jeffrey170
  67. 67Cyril167
  68. 68Vincent164
  69. 69Denis153
  70. 70Gerard148
  71. 71Barrie146
  72. 72Samuel146
  73. 73Lawrence145
  74. 74Fred137
  75. 75Neil132
  76. 76Herbert130
  77. 77Edwin126
  78. 78Wilfred125
  79. 79Clive122
  80. 80Stephen120
  81. 81Martin116
  82. 82Alexander112
  83. 83Victor110
  84. 84Daniel106
  85. 85Rodney105
  86. 86Sidney103
  87. 87Hugh100
  88. 88Arnold97
  89. 89Ralph94
  90. 90Andrew93
  91. 91Stuart90
  92. 92Glyn70
  93. 93Owen69
  94. 94Allen67
  95. 95Derrick63
  96. 96Roland63
  97. 97Noel62
  98. 98Melvyn59
  99. 99Edmund57
  100. 100Ivor55

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Where the counts come from: the US from Social Security card records from 1880 (names given to at least 5 babies in a year; years before about 1937 count fewer people, because the cards started then), and before 1880 from Douglas Galbi's tables of a census sample. England and Wales from the Office for National Statistics from 1996, and before that from Stephen Bush's study of local birth records, a sample of about 120,000 births a year (CC BY 4.0). Scotland from National Records of Scotland. Northern Ireland from NISRA. France from INSEE, first names and last names. Italy from ISTAT (CC BY 4.0), the top 50 names a year. Berlin from the city's open data (CC BY 3.0 DE), counting only the first of a child's names. UK figures are Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence. US last names from the 2020 census, and before 1850 from the 1790 census. Irish last names from Robert Matheson's report on the births of 1890. Italian last names from the City of Florence (CC BY 4.0). Norwegian last names from Statistics Norway (CC BY 4.0).

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