Popular names of 1937, and how old they are now

People born in 1937 turn 89 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 2.1 million births in 1937 under names it lists, and by our estimate about 24% of them are still alive: about 510,000 people.

The year's top names were Mary for girls and Robert for boys. Babies born that year are in the Silent Generation (see Silent names).

2 names on AgeByName had their busiest year ever in 1937: Sylvia and Alton.

Top girl names of 1937

Most popular girl names of 1937
#	Name	Born 1937	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Mary	55,641	17,000	66
2	Barbara	34,917	10,000	72
3	Patricia	26,838	8,100	68
4	Shirley	26,823	8,100	75
5	Betty	25,337	7,600	76
6	Carol	17,336	5,200	72
7	Nancy	17,074	5,100	68
8	Dorothy	16,572	5,000	72
9	Joan	15,301	4,600	73
10	Margaret	15,144	4,500	61
11	Joyce	11,808	3,500	72
12	Helen	11,453	3,400	66
13	Marilyn	9,739	2,900	69
14	Beverly	9,634	2,900	70
15	Ruth	9,602	2,900	62
16	Virginia	9,517	2,900	66
17	Elizabeth	9,385	2,800	44
18	Janet	9,363	2,800	68
19	Frances	9,057	2,700	67
20	Carolyn	8,941	2,700	67
21	Donna	8,887	2,700	68
22	Doris	8,883	2,700	75
23	Jean	8,392	2,500	69
24	Martha	7,953	2,400	66
25	Janice	7,768	2,300	70
26	Sandra	7,520	2,300	66
27	Phyllis	7,245	2,200	74
28	Alice	7,120	2,100	53
29	Lois	6,932	2,100	75
30	Ann	6,713	2,000	65
31	Peggy	6,378	1,900	71
32	Gloria	6,333	1,900	66
33	Norma	6,235	1,900	69
34	Judith	6,146	1,800	72
35	Marie	6,075	1,800	62
36	Evelyn	5,760	1,700	34
37	Dolores	5,568	1,700	74
38	Rose	5,450	1,600	56
39	Anna	5,449	1,600	39
40	Marlene	5,037	1,500	63
41	Sharon	4,704	1,400	68
42	Jane	4,702	1,400	62
43	Mildred	4,646	1,400	74
44	Geraldine	4,556	1,400	72
45	Elaine	4,526	1,400	64
46	Annie	4,479	1,300	54
47	Catherine	4,459	1,300	54
48	Louise	4,382	1,300	69
49	Linda	4,378	1,300	70
50	Sylvia	4,371	1,300	59

Top boy names of 1937

Most popular boy names of 1937
#	Name	Born 1937	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Robert	61,842	11,000	58
2	James	56,561	10,000	54
3	John	48,755	8,900	55
4	William	40,725	7,500	51
5	Richard	32,975	6,000	60
6	Charles	30,520	5,600	54
7	Donald	27,868	5,100	64
8	David	20,981	3,800	52
9	Thomas	19,772	3,600	53
10	George	18,439	3,400	57
11	Ronald	18,141	3,300	64
12	Joseph	17,322	3,200	45
13	Edward	14,930	2,700	56
14	Kenneth	13,219	2,400	57
15	Paul	12,881	2,400	57
16	Larry	10,320	1,900	65
17	Jerry	10,301	1,900	63
18	Frank	10,127	1,900	59
19	Raymond	9,571	1,800	56
20	Gerald	9,425	1,700	64
21	Harold	8,550	1,600	66
22	Billy	8,301	1,500	61
23	Jack	8,194	1,500	34
24	Bobby	7,745	1,400	60
25	Joe	7,745	1,400	61
26	Walter	7,488	1,400	58
27	Michael	7,094	1,300	49
28	Carl	6,914	1,300	60
29	Gary	6,763	1,200	65
30	Henry	6,668	1,200	34
31	Arthur	6,321	1,200	54
32	Willie	6,231	1,100	64
33	Eugene	5,999	1,100	63
34	Ralph	5,923	1,100	65
35	Fred	5,738	1,100	67
36	Roger	5,713	1,000	63
37	Albert	5,665	1,000	57
38	Lawrence	5,507	1,000	60
39	Daniel	5,124	940	42
40	Roy	4,890	900	60
41	Harry	4,814	880	62
42	Howard	4,700	860	65
43	Norman	4,673	860	64
44	Wayne	4,613	840	63
45	Jimmy	4,517	830	57
46	Louis	4,356	800	52
47	Anthony	4,339	790	40
48	Earl	3,942	720	64
49	Marvin	3,913	720	56
50	Melvin	3,890	710	59

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 1937, from Social Security's records. “Alive today” estimates how many of them are still living, using SSA's cohort life tables for people born in 1937. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 1937 babies. Records before the late 1930s undercount births, because many people born then never applied for a Social Security card. How we calculate this