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Names

Most popular baby names of 1942 in England and Wales

In 1942, 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.

← 19411943 →

Girls

  1. 1Margaret3,389
  2. 2Patricia3,070
  3. 3Barbara2,026
  4. 4Ann1,714
  5. 5Joan1,651
  6. 6Mary1,574
  7. 7Maureen1,475
  8. 8Sheila1,150
  9. 9Kathleen1,146
  10. 10Dorothy1,117
  11. 11Valerie1,110
  12. 12Pauline1,087
  13. 13Elizabeth1,031
  14. 14Brenda1,005
  15. 15Anne976
  16. 16Christine970
  17. 17Irene945
  18. 18Sylvia907
  19. 19Joyce812
  20. 20Pamela780
  21. 21Eileen749
  22. 22June749
  23. 23Janet726
  24. 24Sandra695
  25. 25Beryl685
  26. 26Doreen663
  27. 27Carol547
  28. 28Susan533
  29. 29Judith511
  30. 30Norma463
  31. 31Leslie449
  32. 32Jacqueline448
  33. 33Jennifer427
  34. 34Gillian416
  35. 35Carole413
  36. 36Marjorie403
  37. 37Rita399
  38. 38Wendy370
  39. 39Frances366
  40. 40Mavis364
  41. 41Catherine361
  42. 42Shirley347
  43. 43Linda336
  44. 44Josephine329
  45. 45Rosemary303
  46. 46Veronica287
  47. 47Hazel277
  48. 48Lilian272
  49. 49Marion265
  50. 50Cynthia264
  51. 51Elaine264
  52. 52Helen256
  53. 53Marie251
  54. 54Audrey239
  55. 55Ruth237
  56. 56Edna228
  57. 57Winifred228
  58. 58Angela225
  59. 59Diana223
  60. 60Hilary220
  61. 61Edith216
  62. 62Vera214
  63. 63Marian203
  64. 64Yvonne202
  65. 65Florence190
  66. 66Betty188
  67. 67Elsie184
  68. 68Evelyn182
  69. 69Phyllis179
  70. 70Diane177
  71. 71Hilda177
  72. 72Doris173
  73. 73Marlene163
  74. 74Jane162
  75. 75Glenys151
  76. 76Enid149
  77. 77Gloria144
  78. 78Alice141
  79. 79Iris141
  80. 80Heather140
  81. 81Julia140
  82. 82Rose140
  83. 83Freda139
  84. 84Olive133
  85. 85Gwendoline132
  86. 86Muriel132
  87. 87Teresa127
  88. 88Gladys124
  89. 89Anita119
  90. 90Ellen118
  91. 91Eunice117
  92. 92Robin114
  93. 93Marilyn112
  94. 94Stella111
  95. 95Lesley109
  96. 96Thelma106
  97. 97Georgina103
  98. 98Christina101
  99. 99Sarah101
  100. 100Janice98

Boys

  1. 1John6,351
  2. 2David4,246
  3. 3Michael2,891
  4. 4Peter2,629
  5. 5William2,377
  6. 6Jean1,975
  7. 7James1,966
  8. 8Brian1,933
  9. 9Robert1,839
  10. 10Alan1,738
  11. 11Anthony1,618
  12. 12Thomas1,348
  13. 13Kenneth1,333
  14. 14George1,196
  15. 15Keith908
  16. 16Terence855
  17. 17Raymond851
  18. 18Ronald784
  19. 19Colin762
  20. 20Geoffrey759
  21. 21Richard731
  22. 22Derek716
  23. 23Joseph715
  24. 24Roy714
  25. 25Edward712
  26. 26Ian702
  27. 27Graham691
  28. 28Frank646
  29. 29Barry639
  30. 30Frederick621
  31. 31Eric607
  32. 32Malcolm570
  33. 33Christopher546
  34. 34Arthur535
  35. 35Norman533
  36. 36Charles517
  37. 37Roger455
  38. 38Francis451
  39. 39Philip406
  40. 40Trevor396
  41. 41Harry384
  42. 42Paul381
  43. 43Gordon377
  44. 44Harold371
  45. 45Bernard367
  46. 46Albert355
  47. 47Dennis353
  48. 48Jeffrey318
  49. 49Stanley302
  50. 50Leonard292
  51. 51Allan287
  52. 52Donald283
  53. 53Jack276
  54. 54Gerald261
  55. 55Ernest250
  56. 56Patrick242
  57. 57Stephen235
  58. 58Douglas234
  59. 59Alfred228
  60. 60Henry218
  61. 61Kevin203
  62. 62Victor202
  63. 63Reginald201
  64. 64Rodney191
  65. 65Barrie187
  66. 66Clifford186
  67. 67Andrew182
  68. 68Walter179
  69. 69Martin171
  70. 70Bryan169
  71. 71Stuart169
  72. 72Clive160
  73. 73Denis153
  74. 74Lawrence141
  75. 75Maurice135
  76. 76Alexander126
  77. 77Melvyn126
  78. 78Vincent116
  79. 79Gerard113
  80. 80Wilfred107
  81. 81Cyril104
  82. 82Fred104
  83. 83Hugh104
  84. 84Herbert102
  85. 85Neil102
  86. 86Edwin101
  87. 87Ralph98
  88. 88Samuel92
  89. 89Sidney86
  90. 90Glyn81
  91. 91Allen80
  92. 92Howard78
  93. 93Adrian75
  94. 94Derrick75
  95. 95Arnold74
  96. 96Daniel71
  97. 97Nicholas71
  98. 98Bruce68
  99. 99Ivan65
  100. 100Ivor64

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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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