Name Legacy

Baby names in South Dakota, 1930s

1930–1939 · 103,465 recorded births

Robert was the most common name given in South Dakota across the 1930s, with 3,061 births in the decade. The state recorded 103,465 births in total over those years.

Most distinctive to South Dakota in the 1930s

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
Marlys30417×
Arlys4115×
Lavonne33014×
Verlyn4612×
Merlyn9611×
Milo7911×
Milbert8
Mavis227

Top 25 in the 1930s

RankNameBirths
#1Robert3,061
#2Donald2,504
#3James2,390
#4Mary2,370
#5Richard1,997
#6John1,697
#7Betty1,691
#8Shirley1,665
#9Donna1,403
#10William1,333
#11Dorothy1,078
#12Beverly1,065
#12Charles1,065
#14Ronald990
#15Carol982
#16Kenneth967
#16Patricia967
#18Marilyn936
#19Darlene920
#20Joyce909
#21Barbara872
#22Larry829
#23Joan790
#24Lois780
#25Gerald749

Other decades in South Dakota

All South 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