Popular names of 1943, and how old they are now

People born in 1943 turn 83 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 2.8 million births in 1943 under names it lists, and by our estimate about 45% of them are still alive: about 1.3 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).

8 names on AgeByName had their busiest year ever in 1943: Judith, Maryann, Faye, Carroll, Sharron, Roseann, Edwina and Dottie.

Top girl names of 1943

Most popular girl names of 1943
#	Name	Born 1943	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Mary	66,174	34,000	66
2	Barbara	43,432	23,000	72
3	Patricia	39,620	21,000	68
4	Linda	38,439	20,000	70
5	Carol	31,686	16,000	72
6	Sandra	25,990	14,000	66
7	Judith	25,214	13,000	72
8	Sharon	24,712	13,000	68
9	Nancy	23,988	12,000	68
10	Betty	21,596	11,000	76
11	Carolyn	20,365	11,000	67
12	Shirley	17,816	9,300	75
13	Judy	17,383	9,100	72
14	Margaret	17,153	8,900	61
15	Karen	16,816	8,800	63
16	Joyce	16,485	8,600	72
17	Donna	14,912	7,800	68
18	Susan	14,888	7,800	66
19	Dorothy	14,793	7,700	72
20	Janet	13,316	6,900	68
21	Joan	13,232	6,900	73
22	Kathleen	12,153	6,300	64
23	Elizabeth	11,644	6,100	44
24	Diane	11,326	5,900	68
25	Virginia	10,847	5,600	66
26	Janice	10,651	5,500	70
27	Marilyn	10,145	5,300	69
28	Helen	9,800	5,100	66
29	Martha	9,704	5,100	66
30	Gloria	9,684	5,000	66
31	Frances	9,449	4,900	67
32	Beverly	9,435	4,900	70
33	Ruth	9,370	4,900	62
34	Bonnie	8,870	4,600	66
35	Brenda	8,435	4,400	63
36	Jean	8,096	4,200	69
37	Ann	7,829	4,100	65
38	Alice	7,648	4,000	53
39	Phyllis	7,610	4,000	74
40	Doris	7,128	3,700	75
41	Peggy	6,511	3,400	71
42	Carole	6,506	3,400	75
43	Lois	6,132	3,200	75
44	Jane	6,032	3,100	62
45	Marie	5,980	3,100	62
46	Elaine	5,966	3,100	64
47	Charlotte	5,482	2,900	30
48	Catherine	5,427	2,800	54
49	Joanne	5,270	2,700	68
50	Rose	5,206	2,700	56

Top boy names of 1943

Most popular boy names of 1943
#	Name	Born 1943	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	James	80,278	30,000	54
2	Robert	74,892	28,000	58
3	John	68,929	26,000	55
4	William	55,904	21,000	51
5	Richard	46,339	18,000	60
6	David	37,240	14,000	52
7	Charles	36,632	14,000	54
8	Thomas	32,874	12,000	53
9	Ronald	29,239	11,000	64
10	Michael	24,745	9,400	49
11	Donald	24,421	9,300	64
12	Larry	22,978	8,700	65
13	Joseph	22,828	8,700	45
14	George	21,692	8,200	57
15	Kenneth	19,112	7,300	57
16	Gary	17,868	6,800	65
17	Jerry	17,730	6,700	63
18	Edward	17,713	6,700	56
19	Paul	17,253	6,600	57
20	Dennis	14,116	5,400	63
21	Frank	12,246	4,700	59
22	Raymond	11,391	4,300	56
23	Gerald	11,367	4,300	64
24	Roger	10,773	4,100	63
25	Daniel	9,168	3,500	42
26	Walter	9,035	3,400	58
27	Harold	8,670	3,300	66
28	Douglas	8,236	3,100	59
29	Stephen	7,932	3,000	54
30	Arthur	7,785	3,000	54
31	Henry	7,631	2,900	34
32	Lawrence	7,583	2,900	60
33	Carl	7,472	2,800	60
34	Jack	7,398	2,800	34
35	Joe	7,308	2,800	61
36	Willie	7,178	2,700	64
37	Billy	7,012	2,700	61
38	Roy	6,932	2,600	60
39	Peter	6,877	2,600	51
40	Ralph	6,771	2,600	65
41	Wayne	6,761	2,600	63
42	Jimmy	6,444	2,400	57
43	Albert	6,307	2,400	57
44	Anthony	6,202	2,400	40
45	Fred	6,168	2,300	67
46	Bobby	6,121	2,300	60
47	Eugene	5,902	2,200	63
48	Howard	5,739	2,200	65
49	Terry	5,737	2,200	62
50	Harry	5,720	2,200	62

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 1943, 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 1943. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 1943 babies. How we calculate this