Popular names of 1948, and how old they are now

People born in 1948 turn 78 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 3.5 million births in 1948 under names it lists, and by our estimate about 60% of them are still alive: about 2.1 million people.

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

10 names on AgeByName had their busiest year ever in 1948: Paulette, Lana, Benny, Noreen, Rosetta, Marva, Georgette, Linwood, Karon and Lon.

Top girl names of 1948

Most popular girl names of 1948
#	Name	Born 1948	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Linda	96,220	64,000	70
2	Mary	68,597	46,000	66
3	Barbara	46,826	31,000	72
4	Patricia	46,140	31,000	68
5	Susan	35,988	24,000	66
6	Sandra	31,063	21,000	66
7	Nancy	29,411	20,000	68
8	Carol	28,977	19,000	72
9	Sharon	26,143	17,000	68
10	Kathleen	23,257	16,000	64
11	Donna	22,033	15,000	68
12	Karen	21,996	15,000	63
13	Margaret	18,873	13,000	61
14	Carolyn	18,623	12,000	67
15	Judith	17,787	12,000	72
16	Judy	17,706	12,000	72
17	Brenda	17,700	12,000	63
18	Betty	16,625	11,000	76
19	Diane	16,607	11,000	68
20	Shirley	16,121	11,000	75
21	Joyce	14,380	9,600	72
22	Pamela	14,281	9,600	64
23	Janice	14,162	9,500	70
24	Janet	13,977	9,400	68
25	Cheryl	13,220	8,800	65
26	Elizabeth	13,215	8,800	44
27	Cynthia	12,240	8,200	60
28	Gloria	11,690	7,800	66
29	Dorothy	11,324	7,600	72
30	Deborah	11,244	7,500	66
31	Beverly	10,795	7,200	70
32	Martha	10,011	6,700	66
33	Marilyn	9,937	6,600	69
34	Bonnie	9,817	6,600	66
35	Christine	9,677	6,500	57
36	Virginia	9,296	6,200	66
37	Joan	9,275	6,200	73
38	Peggy	9,089	6,100	71
39	Jane	8,781	5,900	62
40	Helen	8,301	5,600	66
41	Catherine	8,244	5,500	54
42	Frances	8,179	5,500	67
43	Connie	8,055	5,400	67
44	Ann	8,025	5,400	65
45	Ruth	7,903	5,300	62
46	Phyllis	7,876	5,300	74
47	Jean	7,774	5,200	69
48	Diana	7,706	5,200	52
49	Alice	6,981	4,700	53
50	Rebecca	6,795	4,500	48

Top boy names of 1948

Most popular boy names of 1948
#	Name	Born 1948	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	James	88,605	47,000	54
2	Robert	85,478	45,000	58
3	John	82,834	44,000	55
4	William	61,972	33,000	51
5	David	56,627	30,000	52
6	Michael	52,566	28,000	49
7	Richard	50,970	27,000	60
8	Thomas	43,780	23,000	53
9	Charles	38,676	21,000	54
10	Ronald	33,527	18,000	64
11	Larry	33,436	18,000	65
12	Gary	28,397	15,000	65
13	Joseph	26,801	14,000	45
14	Donald	26,442	14,000	64
15	Kenneth	23,550	13,000	57
16	George	21,926	12,000	57
17	Dennis	21,765	12,000	63
18	Paul	21,252	11,000	57
19	Edward	18,983	10,000	56
20	Stephen	17,061	9,100	54
21	Jerry	16,809	8,900	63
22	Daniel	16,510	8,800	42
23	Steven	15,979	8,500	52
24	Roger	12,818	6,800	63
25	Frank	12,698	6,800	59
26	Terry	12,136	6,500	62
27	Raymond	11,612	6,200	56
28	Bruce	11,065	5,900	63
29	Mark	10,267	5,500	56
30	Gerald	9,842	5,200	64
31	Lawrence	9,768	5,200	60
32	Gregory	9,724	5,200	54
33	Douglas	9,468	5,000	59
34	Wayne	8,682	4,600	63
35	Walter	8,627	4,600	58
36	Harold	8,144	4,300	66
37	Peter	8,048	4,300	51
38	Timothy	8,043	4,300	50
39	Danny	8,009	4,300	57
40	Willie	7,971	4,200	64
41	Anthony	7,878	4,200	40
42	Carl	7,829	4,200	60
43	Jack	7,612	4,100	34
44	Arthur	7,576	4,000	54
45	Henry	7,421	4,000	34
46	Alan	7,394	3,900	49
47	Joe	7,288	3,900	61
48	Patrick	7,192	3,800	47
49	Roy	7,067	3,800	60
50	Jimmy	6,927	3,700	57

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 1948, 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 1948. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 1948 babies. How we calculate this