Birth year

Born in 1940? Here's your year in charts

In 1940, the top baby names were Mary and James and a newborn could expect to live 62.9 years.

Top baby names of 1940

Girls

  1. 1. Mary 56,216 babies, 4.9% of girls
  2. 2. Barbara 36,736 babies, 3.2% of girls
  3. 3. Patricia 32,665 babies, 2.9% of girls
  4. 4. Judith 22,385 babies, 2.0% of girls
  5. 5. Betty 22,077 babies, 1.9% of girls

Boys

  1. 1. James 62,481 babies, 5.4% of boys
  2. 2. Robert 61,198 babies, 5.3% of boys
  3. 3. John 54,786 babies, 4.7% of boys
  4. 4. William 44,779 babies, 3.9% of boys
  5. 5. Richard 37,425 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.

1940 then vs. now

  • Life expectancy at birth

    See the chart

    62.9 years in 1940, 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 1940.

$100 in 1940 buys about as much as $2,405.28 in September 2026. Try the inflation calculator

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Sources and dates