Popular names of 1938, and how old they are now

People born in 1938 turn 88 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 2.2 million births in 1938 under names it lists, and by our estimate about 28% of them are still alive: about 610,000 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).

7 names on AgeByName had their busiest year ever in 1938: Loretta, Rosalie, Myrna, Dixie, Nelda, Beverley and Melva.

Top girl names of 1938

Most popular girl names of 1938
#	Name	Born 1938	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Mary	56,225	19,000	66
2	Barbara	39,277	13,000	72
3	Patricia	27,560	9,400	68
4	Betty	25,506	8,700	76
5	Shirley	23,766	8,100	75
6	Carol	19,421	6,600	72
7	Nancy	18,951	6,400	68
8	Dorothy	16,358	5,600	72
9	Margaret	15,330	5,200	61
10	Joan	14,303	4,900	73
11	Joyce	12,698	4,300	72
12	Judith	10,878	3,700	72
13	Helen	10,837	3,700	66
14	Sandra	10,806	3,700	66
15	Carolyn	10,586	3,600	67
16	Janet	9,870	3,400	68
17	Elizabeth	9,803	3,300	44
18	Beverly	9,770	3,300	70
19	Marilyn	9,745	3,300	69
20	Donna	9,693	3,300	68
21	Ruth	9,303	3,200	62
22	Virginia	9,269	3,200	66
23	Frances	8,921	3,000	67
24	Janice	8,711	3,000	70
25	Doris	8,603	2,900	75
26	Martha	8,578	2,900	66
27	Jean	7,764	2,600	69
28	Phyllis	7,644	2,600	74
29	Alice	7,490	2,500	53
30	Sharon	7,244	2,500	68
31	Linda	7,047	2,400	70
32	Ann	6,990	2,400	65
33	Lois	6,502	2,200	75
34	Norma	6,368	2,200	69
35	Peggy	6,343	2,200	71
36	Gloria	6,299	2,100	66
37	Marie	5,958	2,000	62
38	Evelyn	5,688	1,900	34
39	Rose	5,292	1,800	56
40	Anna	5,145	1,700	39
41	Judy	4,992	1,700	72
42	Elaine	4,835	1,600	64
43	Dolores	4,809	1,600	74
44	Jane	4,786	1,600	62
45	Geraldine	4,652	1,600	72
46	Carole	4,616	1,600	75
47	Annie	4,562	1,600	54
48	Catherine	4,525	1,500	54
49	Wanda	4,513	1,500	69
50	Karen	4,508	1,500	63

Top boy names of 1938

Most popular boy names of 1938
#	Name	Born 1938	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Robert	62,271	13,000	58
2	James	59,102	13,000	54
3	John	50,517	11,000	55
4	William	42,433	9,100	51
5	Richard	34,385	7,400	60
6	Charles	31,151	6,700	54
7	Donald	26,677	5,700	64
8	David	22,994	4,900	52
9	Thomas	21,381	4,600	53
10	Ronald	20,295	4,400	64
11	George	18,435	4,000	57
12	Joseph	17,742	3,800	45
13	Edward	14,551	3,100	56
14	Kenneth	14,399	3,100	57
15	Paul	13,360	2,900	57
16	Larry	12,394	2,700	65
17	Jerry	12,172	2,600	63
18	Frank	10,260	2,200	59
19	Gerald	9,972	2,100	64
20	Raymond	9,725	2,100	56
21	Michael	9,077	2,000	49
22	Gary	8,861	1,900	65
23	Harold	8,563	1,800	66
24	Billy	8,253	1,800	61
25	Jack	8,144	1,800	34
26	Walter	7,560	1,600	58
27	Bobby	7,498	1,600	60
28	Joe	7,438	1,600	61
29	Carl	6,849	1,500	60
30	Henry	6,557	1,400	34
31	Roger	6,551	1,400	63
32	Arthur	6,525	1,400	54
33	Eugene	6,112	1,300	63
34	Willie	6,081	1,300	64
35	Ralph	6,013	1,300	65
36	Lawrence	5,873	1,300	60
37	Albert	5,796	1,200	57
38	Fred	5,768	1,200	67
39	Daniel	5,583	1,200	42
40	Wayne	5,226	1,100	63
41	Roy	5,041	1,100	60
42	Howard	5,018	1,100	65
43	Norman	4,953	1,100	64
44	Harry	4,824	1,000	62
45	Jimmy	4,730	1,000	57
46	Anthony	4,689	1,000	40
47	Louis	4,390	950	52
48	Peter	4,293	920	51
49	Dennis	4,236	910	63
50	Earl	4,007	860	64

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 1938, 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 1938. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 1938 babies. Records before the late 1930s undercount births, because many people born then never applied for a Social Security card. How we calculate this