Name Legacy

Baby names in Minnesota, 1940s

1940–1949 · 558,075 recorded births

James was the most common name given in Minnesota across the 1940s, with 15,274 births in the decade. The state recorded 558,075 births in total over those years.

Most distinctive to Minnesota 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
Luverne7418×
Marlys86317×
Arlys10715×
Arvid11710×
Duwayne13210×
Ardelle50
Lavonne583
Ione124

Top 25 in the 1940s

RankNameBirths
#1James15,274
#2Mary14,512
#3Robert14,272
#4John13,509
#5Richard12,857
#6David12,704
#7Thomas9,518
#8Michael8,958
#9Linda8,835
#10Gary8,495
#11Barbara8,483
#12Carol8,289
#13Patricia8,172
#14Sharon7,943
#15William7,307
#16Judith7,105
#17Sandra6,981
#18Dennis6,969
#19Kathleen6,893
#20Karen6,892
#21Ronald6,753
#22Susan6,319
#23Donald6,169
#24Nancy5,822
#25Larry5,332

Other decades in Minnesota

All Minnesota 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