Birth year

Born in 1938? Here's your year in charts

In 1938, the top baby names were Mary and Robert and a newborn could expect to live 63.5 years.

Top baby names of 1938

Girls

  1. 1. Mary 56,225 babies, 5.1% of girls
  2. 2. Barbara 39,277 babies, 3.6% of girls
  3. 3. Patricia 27,560 babies, 2.5% of girls
  4. 4. Betty 25,506 babies, 2.3% of girls
  5. 5. Shirley 23,766 babies, 2.2% of girls

Boys

  1. 1. Robert 62,271 babies, 5.6% of boys
  2. 2. James 59,102 babies, 5.3% of boys
  3. 3. John 50,517 babies, 4.6% of boys
  4. 4. William 42,433 babies, 3.8% of boys
  5. 5. Richard 34,385 babies, 3.1% of boys

From Social Security card applications for babies born in the U.S.; names given to fewer than 5 babies are left out. Pick a name to see how many babies got it every year since 1880.

1938 then vs. now

  • Life expectancy at birth

    See the chart

    63.5 years in 1938, compared with 78.7 years in 2018

    How long a baby born that year could expect to live, at that year's death rates.

Prices are in dollars of the day, not adjusted for inflation. A figure is left out when its chart doesn't cover 1938.

$100 in 1938 buys about as much as $2,391.06 in September 2026. Try the inflation calculator

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Sources and dates