Popular names of 1942, and how old they are now

People born in 1942 turn 84 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 2.7 million births in 1942 under names it lists, and by our estimate about 42% of them are still alive: about 1.1 million people.

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

10 names on AgeByName had their busiest year ever in 1942: Joyce, Gerald, Carole, Joann, Kay, Priscilla, Sondra, Mack, Jerald and Marylou.

Top girl names of 1942

Most popular girl names of 1942
#	Name	Born 1942	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Mary	63,256	31,000	66
2	Barbara	44,739	22,000	72
3	Patricia	39,465	19,000	68
4	Linda	31,613	15,000	70
5	Carol	30,272	15,000	72
6	Sandra	24,994	12,000	66
7	Judith	24,792	12,000	72
8	Nancy	23,327	11,000	68
9	Betty	21,659	11,000	76
10	Carolyn	19,978	9,700	67
11	Sharon	19,648	9,600	68
12	Shirley	17,750	8,600	75
13	Joyce	16,728	8,100	72
14	Margaret	16,549	8,100	61
15	Judy	15,667	7,600	72
16	Karen	15,387	7,500	63
17	Dorothy	15,037	7,300	72
18	Joan	14,514	7,100	73
19	Janet	13,065	6,400	68
20	Donna	12,987	6,300	68
21	Susan	12,015	5,800	66
22	Elizabeth	11,186	5,400	44
23	Virginia	10,803	5,300	66
24	Kathleen	10,696	5,200	64
25	Janice	10,286	5,000	70
26	Helen	10,016	4,900	66
27	Marilyn	9,906	4,800	69
28	Diane	9,551	4,600	68
29	Martha	9,513	4,600	66
30	Frances	9,471	4,600	67
31	Gloria	9,450	4,600	66
32	Beverly	9,411	4,600	70
33	Ruth	9,315	4,500	62
34	Bonnie	8,823	4,300	66
35	Carole	8,407	4,100	75
36	Jean	8,257	4,000	69
37	Phyllis	7,793	3,800	74
38	Ann	7,666	3,700	65
39	Alice	7,382	3,600	53
40	Brenda	7,241	3,500	63
41	Doris	7,176	3,500	75
42	Peggy	6,580	3,200	71
43	Marie	6,559	3,200	62
44	Lois	6,406	3,100	75
45	Elaine	5,986	2,900	64
46	Jane	5,707	2,800	62
47	Geraldine	5,437	2,600	72
48	Joanne	5,342	2,600	68
49	Catherine	5,267	2,600	54
50	Rose	5,253	2,600	56

Top boy names of 1942

Most popular boy names of 1942
#	Name	Born 1942	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	James	77,182	27,000	54
2	Robert	71,845	25,000	58
3	John	66,043	23,000	55
4	William	54,890	19,000	51
5	Richard	43,593	15,000	60
6	David	35,905	12,000	52
7	Charles	35,854	12,000	54
8	Thomas	31,100	11,000	53
9	Ronald	27,138	9,400	64
10	Donald	23,955	8,300	64
11	Joseph	22,429	7,800	45
12	Larry	22,099	7,600	65
13	Michael	21,728	7,500	49
14	George	21,275	7,400	57
15	Kenneth	18,210	6,300	57
16	Jerry	17,488	6,100	63
17	Edward	17,470	6,000	56
18	Gary	17,068	5,900	65
19	Paul	16,492	5,700	57
20	Dennis	13,281	4,600	63
21	Frank	12,248	4,200	59
22	Gerald	11,484	4,000	64
23	Douglas	11,233	3,900	59
24	Raymond	11,116	3,800	56
25	Roger	9,174	3,200	63
26	Walter	8,682	3,000	58
27	Harold	8,582	3,000	66
28	Daniel	8,507	2,900	42
29	Arthur	8,027	2,800	54
30	Lawrence	7,639	2,600	60
31	Henry	7,561	2,600	34
32	Stephen	7,503	2,600	54
33	Joe	7,383	2,600	61
34	Jack	7,365	2,500	34
35	Billy	7,313	2,500	61
36	Carl	7,268	2,500	60
37	Willie	7,094	2,500	64
38	Ralph	6,637	2,300	65
39	Peter	6,587	2,300	51
40	Albert	6,496	2,200	57
41	Wayne	6,484	2,200	63
42	Roy	6,311	2,200	60
43	Bobby	6,248	2,200	60
44	Anthony	6,210	2,100	40
45	Eugene	6,092	2,100	63
46	Fred	6,088	2,100	67
47	Jimmy	5,949	2,100	57
48	Harry	5,629	1,900	62
49	Howard	5,571	1,900	65
50	Bruce	5,385	1,900	63

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 1942, 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 1942. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 1942 babies. How we calculate this