Birth year

Born in 1945? Here's your year in charts

In 1945, the top baby names were Mary and James and a newborn could expect to live 65.9 years.

Top baby names of 1945

Girls

  1. 1. Mary 59,278 babies, 4.5% of girls
  2. 2. Linda 41,465 babies, 3.2% of girls
  3. 3. Barbara 38,273 babies, 2.9% of girls
  4. 4. Patricia 35,844 babies, 2.7% of girls
  5. 5. Carol 30,389 babies, 2.3% of girls

Boys

  1. 1. James 74,464 babies, 5.5% of boys
  2. 2. Robert 69,947 babies, 5.2% of boys
  3. 3. John 66,117 babies, 4.9% of boys
  4. 4. William 50,218 babies, 3.7% of boys
  5. 5. Richard 46,046 babies, 3.4% 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.

1945 then vs. now

  • Life expectancy at birth

    See the chart

    65.9 years in 1945, 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 1945.

$100 in 1945 buys about as much as $1,872.76 in September 2026. Try the inflation calculator

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