Name Legacy

Baby names in Nebraska, 1940s

1940–1949 · 229,773 recorded births

Robert was the most common name given in Nebraska across the 1940s, with 6,291 births in the decade. The state recorded 229,773 births in total over those years.

Most distinctive to Nebraska 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
Twila97
Jolene135
Lyle440
Eldon190
Merlin105
Ardith61
Lavern106
Lavonne132

Top 25 in the 1940s

RankNameBirths
#1Robert6,291
#2James5,715
#3Mary5,357
#4Linda5,207
#5John4,952
#6Richard4,759
#7Larry4,522
#8Gary3,749
#9Sharon3,673
#10David3,434
#11William3,393
#12Ronald3,306
#13Patricia3,150
#14Barbara3,094
#15Carol2,975
#16Michael2,907
#17Donald2,829
#18Karen2,748
#19Dennis2,724
#20Thomas2,535
#21Sandra2,531
#22Judy2,528
#23Nancy2,200
#24Charles2,184
#25Kenneth2,171

Other decades in Nebraska

All Nebraska 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