Popular names of 1945, and how old they are now

People born in 1945 turn 81 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 2.7 million births in 1945 under names it lists, and by our estimate about 51% of them are still alive: about 1.4 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).

One name on AgeByName had their busiest year ever in 1945: Truman.

Top girl names of 1945

Most popular girl names of 1945
#	Name	Born 1945	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Mary	59,278	35,000	66
2	Linda	41,465	24,000	70
3	Barbara	38,273	22,000	72
4	Patricia	35,844	21,000	68
5	Carol	30,389	18,000	72
6	Sandra	24,700	14,000	66
7	Nancy	21,456	13,000	68
8	Sharon	20,838	12,000	68
9	Judith	20,192	12,000	72
10	Susan	19,222	11,000	66
11	Betty	18,387	11,000	76
12	Carolyn	17,244	10,000	67
13	Judy	17,001	9,900	72
14	Shirley	16,150	9,400	75
15	Margaret	15,685	9,100	61
16	Karen	15,680	9,100	63
17	Donna	15,397	9,000	68
18	Joyce	13,950	8,100	72
19	Kathleen	13,802	8,000	64
20	Janet	12,326	7,200	68
21	Dorothy	12,323	7,200	72
22	Diane	12,223	7,100	68
23	Gloria	11,037	6,400	66
24	Janice	10,781	6,300	70
25	Joan	10,394	6,100	73
26	Elizabeth	10,343	6,000	44
27	Marilyn	9,534	5,600	69
28	Virginia	9,244	5,400	66
29	Brenda	9,203	5,400	63
30	Martha	8,752	5,100	66
31	Helen	8,301	4,800	66
32	Cheryl	8,149	4,700	65
33	Ruth	8,046	4,700	62
34	Frances	7,940	4,600	67
35	Bonnie	7,745	4,500	66
36	Jane	7,639	4,500	62
37	Beverly	7,618	4,400	70
38	Jean	7,429	4,300	69
39	Ann	7,038	4,100	65
40	Phyllis	6,530	3,800	74
41	Alice	6,359	3,700	53
42	Pamela	6,169	3,600	64
43	Diana	6,047	3,500	52
44	Elaine	5,887	3,400	64
45	Peggy	5,839	3,400	71
46	Doris	5,820	3,400	75
47	Connie	5,337	3,100	67
48	Lois	5,148	3,000	75
49	Marie	5,084	3,000	62
50	Catherine	5,031	2,900	54

Top boy names of 1945

Most popular boy names of 1945
#	Name	Born 1945	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	James	74,464	33,000	54
2	Robert	69,947	31,000	58
3	John	66,117	29,000	55
4	William	50,218	22,000	51
5	Richard	46,046	20,000	60
6	David	37,110	16,000	52
7	Charles	32,469	14,000	54
8	Thomas	31,874	14,000	53
9	Michael	29,902	13,000	49
10	Ronald	23,665	10,000	64
11	Larry	22,824	10,000	65
12	Donald	22,138	9,800	64
13	Gary	21,345	9,500	65
14	Joseph	20,823	9,200	45
15	George	19,327	8,600	57
16	Kenneth	18,096	8,000	57
17	Paul	16,995	7,500	57
18	Edward	15,870	7,000	56
19	Dennis	14,990	6,600	63
20	Jerry	14,704	6,500	63
21	Frank	10,874	4,800	59
22	Roger	10,571	4,700	63
23	Raymond	9,858	4,400	56
24	Daniel	9,708	4,300	42
25	Gerald	8,857	3,900	64
26	Stephen	8,641	3,800	54
27	Walter	7,574	3,400	58
28	Harold	7,524	3,300	66
29	Douglas	7,394	3,300	59
30	Lawrence	7,163	3,200	60
31	Willie	7,030	3,100	64
32	Jack	6,857	3,000	34
33	Terry	6,834	3,000	62
34	Arthur	6,802	3,000	54
35	Wayne	6,738	3,000	63
36	Joe	6,625	2,900	61
37	Henry	6,606	2,900	34
38	Peter	6,483	2,900	51
39	Carl	6,314	2,800	60
40	Roy	6,183	2,700	60
41	Jimmy	6,159	2,700	57
42	Billy	6,022	2,700	61
43	Steven	5,974	2,600	52
44	Ralph	5,785	2,600	65
45	Johnny	5,699	2,500	54
46	Anthony	5,686	2,500	40
47	Harry	5,650	2,500	62
48	Bruce	5,615	2,500	63
49	Albert	5,432	2,400	57
50	Eugene	5,167	2,300	63

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 1945, 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 1945. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 1945 babies. How we calculate this