Popular names of 1946, and how old they are now

People born in 1946 turn 80 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 3.2 million births in 1946 under names it lists, and by our estimate about 54% of them are still alive: about 1.7 million people.

The year's top names were Mary for girls and James for boys. Babies born that year are Baby Boomers (see Boomer names).

4 names on AgeByName had their busiest year ever in 1946: Richard, Carol, Don and Elida.

Top girl names of 1946

Most popular girl names of 1946
#	Name	Born 1946	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Mary	67,471	41,000	66
2	Linda	52,710	32,000	70
3	Patricia	46,297	28,000	68
4	Barbara	45,126	28,000	72
5	Carol	34,284	21,000	72
6	Sandra	31,692	19,000	66
7	Nancy	28,345	17,000	68
8	Susan	28,267	17,000	66
9	Sharon	27,824	17,000	68
10	Judith	22,310	14,000	72
11	Judy	20,477	13,000	72
12	Carolyn	19,902	12,000	67
13	Donna	19,770	12,000	68
14	Betty	19,711	12,000	76
15	Karen	19,647	12,000	63
16	Kathleen	18,760	12,000	64
17	Margaret	18,136	11,000	61
18	Shirley	17,870	11,000	75
19	Diane	15,835	9,700	68
20	Joyce	15,209	9,300	72
21	Janet	14,142	8,700	68
22	Janice	14,039	8,600	70
23	Dorothy	12,797	7,900	72
24	Brenda	12,690	7,800	63
25	Elizabeth	11,753	7,200	44
26	Gloria	11,686	7,200	66
27	Cheryl	11,526	7,100	65
28	Joan	11,218	6,900	73
29	Marilyn	10,711	6,600	69
30	Beverly	10,430	6,400	70
31	Virginia	10,015	6,100	66
32	Martha	9,759	6,000	66
33	Bonnie	9,510	5,800	66
34	Pamela	9,367	5,700	64
35	Jane	8,971	5,500	62
36	Helen	8,852	5,400	66
37	Jean	8,554	5,200	69
38	Ruth	8,474	5,200	62
39	Frances	8,450	5,200	67
40	Ann	8,077	5,000	65
41	Phyllis	8,048	4,900	74
42	Diana	7,544	4,600	52
43	Peggy	7,400	4,500	71
44	Alice	7,363	4,500	53
45	Connie	7,215	4,400	67
46	Cynthia	6,895	4,200	60
47	Elaine	6,803	4,200	64
48	Catherine	6,367	3,900	54
49	Gail	6,227	3,800	71
50	Christine	6,202	3,800	57

Top boy names of 1946

Most popular boy names of 1946
#	Name	Born 1946	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	James	87,438	42,000	54
2	Robert	84,136	40,000	58
3	John	79,267	38,000	55
4	William	60,034	29,000	51
5	Richard	58,870	28,000	60
6	David	46,444	22,000	52
7	Michael	41,194	20,000	49
8	Thomas	38,877	18,000	53
9	Charles	38,215	18,000	54
10	Ronald	31,858	15,000	64
11	Larry	28,447	14,000	65
12	Gary	26,931	13,000	65
13	Donald	26,273	12,000	64
14	Joseph	24,284	12,000	45
15	Kenneth	22,042	10,000	57
16	George	21,575	10,000	57
17	Dennis	21,447	10,000	63
18	Paul	21,063	10,000	57
19	Edward	18,585	8,800	56
20	Jerry	17,567	8,300	63
21	Daniel	12,867	6,100	42
22	Frank	12,667	6,000	59
23	Roger	12,411	5,900	63
24	Stephen	11,832	5,600	54
25	Raymond	11,289	5,400	56
26	Terry	10,678	5,100	62
27	Gerald	10,033	4,800	64
28	Steven	8,878	4,200	52
29	Wayne	8,807	4,200	63
30	Walter	8,668	4,100	58
31	Lawrence	8,517	4,000	60
32	Bruce	8,459	4,000	63
33	Harold	8,373	4,000	66
34	Douglas	8,336	4,000	59
35	Jack	7,801	3,700	34
36	Arthur	7,537	3,600	54
37	Joe	7,536	3,600	61
38	Peter	7,483	3,600	51
39	Carl	7,380	3,500	60
40	Willie	7,339	3,500	64
41	Henry	7,317	3,500	34
42	Jimmy	7,128	3,400	57
43	Roy	6,925	3,300	60
44	Anthony	6,771	3,200	40
45	Billy	6,716	3,200	61
46	Danny	6,650	3,200	57
47	Johnny	6,611	3,100	54
48	Ralph	6,587	3,100	65
49	Alan	6,490	3,100	49
50	Harry	6,027	2,900	62

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 1946, 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 1946. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 1946 babies. How we calculate this