Birth year

Born in 1939? Here's your year in charts

In 1939, the top baby names were Mary and Robert and a newborn could expect to live 63.7 years.

Top baby names of 1939

Girls

  1. 1. Mary 54,900 babies, 5.0% of girls
  2. 2. Barbara 37,257 babies, 3.4% of girls
  3. 3. Patricia 29,701 babies, 2.7% of girls
  4. 4. Betty 23,639 babies, 2.2% of girls
  5. 5. Shirley 20,447 babies, 1.9% of girls

Boys

  1. 1. Robert 59,666 babies, 5.4% of boys
  2. 2. James 59,636 babies, 5.4% of boys
  3. 3. John 51,025 babies, 4.6% of boys
  4. 4. William 42,071 babies, 3.8% of boys
  5. 5. Richard 35,386 babies, 3.2% 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.

1939 then vs. now

  • Life expectancy at birth

    See the chart

    63.7 years in 1939, 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 1939.

$100 in 1939 buys about as much as $2,422.58 in September 2026. Try the inflation calculator

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Sources and dates