Name Legacy

Baby names in North Dakota, 1940s

1940–1949 · 121,107 recorded births

James was the most common name given in North Dakota across the 1940s, with 2,926 births in the decade. The state recorded 121,107 births in total over those years.

Most distinctive to North Dakota 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
Marlys31228×
Arlys3016×
Ardis7913×
Lavonne15210×
Duane74710×
Alvina3610×
Myron237
Mavis120

Top 25 in the 1940s

RankNameBirths
#1James2,926
#2Robert2,758
#3Mary2,554
#4Richard2,436
#5Linda2,338
#6David2,273
#7Gary2,145
#8John2,104
#9Larry1,916
#10Sharon1,879
#11Carol1,859
#12Dennis1,809
#13Ronald1,738
#14Donald1,588
#15Karen1,555
#16Patricia1,350
#17Sandra1,345
#18Kenneth1,326
#19William1,232
#20Barbara1,163
#21Roger1,135
#22Judith1,125
#23Michael1,116
#23Thomas1,116
#25Janice1,105

Other decades in North Dakota

All North Dakota 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