Name Legacy

Baby names in Michigan, 1940s

1940–1949 · 1,188,933 recorded births

Robert was the most common name given in Michigan across the 1940s, with 35,524 births in the decade. The state recorded 1,188,933 births in total over those years.

Most distinctive to Michigan in the 1940s

Names given far more often here than nationally in these years. The multiplier is conservative — it is the low end of the plausible range, so a name carried by a handful of births does not outrank one carried by hundreds.

NameBirthsvs national
Bethany143
Delphine194
Mamon6
Onalee25
Ruthann275
Rainell8
Arloa16
Dawn933

Top 25 in the 1940s

RankNameBirths
#1Robert35,524
#2James33,494
#3John28,681
#4Mary26,249
#5Richard24,058
#6David24,029
#7William22,771
#8Linda22,147
#9Michael19,975
#10Thomas19,756
#11Patricia19,631
#12Barbara18,250
#13Carol16,968
#14Sharon16,286
#15Ronald16,051
#16Sandra14,904
#17Nancy14,106
#18Gary13,603
#19Judith12,952
#20Charles12,737
#21Donald12,304
#22Susan12,062
#23Larry11,687
#24Dennis11,182
#25Karen10,872

Other decades in Michigan

All Michigan names, 2025

Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. State records begin in 1910. Names given to fewer than five babies in a state in a year are withheld at source. namelegacy.org