Popular names of 1949, and how old they are now

People born in 1949 turn 77 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 3.5 million births in 1949 under names it lists, and by our estimate about 62% of them are still alive: about 2.2 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).

7 names on AgeByName had their busiest year ever in 1949: Rita, Susanne, Rodger, Teddy, Lanny, Galen and Vaughn.

Top girl names of 1949

Most popular girl names of 1949
#	Name	Born 1949	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Linda	91,015	63,000	70
2	Mary	66,874	46,000	66
3	Patricia	46,324	32,000	68
4	Barbara	42,600	29,000	72
5	Susan	37,709	26,000	66
6	Sandra	30,643	21,000	66
7	Nancy	29,249	20,000	68
8	Carol	26,780	19,000	72
9	Kathleen	26,357	18,000	64
10	Sharon	25,713	18,000	68
11	Karen	22,468	16,000	63
12	Donna	22,056	15,000	68
13	Brenda	20,543	14,000	63
14	Margaret	19,452	13,000	61
15	Deborah	19,209	13,000	66
16	Judith	17,610	12,000	72
17	Carolyn	17,404	12,000	67
18	Shirley	17,281	12,000	75
19	Diane	17,252	12,000	68
20	Judy	15,979	11,000	72
21	Pamela	15,132	10,000	64
22	Betty	14,936	10,000	76
23	Janet	14,860	10,000	68
24	Janice	14,453	10,000	70
25	Elizabeth	13,714	9,500	44
26	Joyce	13,572	9,400	72
27	Cynthia	12,901	8,900	60
28	Cheryl	12,007	8,300	65
29	Gloria	11,879	8,200	66
30	Christine	11,797	8,200	57
31	Beverly	10,552	7,300	70
32	Dorothy	10,410	7,200	72
33	Marilyn	9,865	6,800	69
34	Martha	9,808	6,800	66
35	Bonnie	9,732	6,700	66
36	Joan	9,206	6,400	73
37	Catherine	9,137	6,300	54
38	Peggy	9,118	6,300	71
39	Virginia	8,896	6,200	66
40	Rebecca	8,778	6,100	48
41	Jane	8,719	6,000	62
42	Kathy	8,451	5,800	65
43	Connie	8,219	5,700	67
44	Ann	7,870	5,400	65
45	Jean	7,760	5,400	69
46	Helen	7,707	5,300	66
47	Ruth	7,651	5,300	62
48	Diana	7,535	5,200	52
49	Frances	7,440	5,100	67
50	Phyllis	7,315	5,100	74

Top boy names of 1949

Most popular boy names of 1949
#	Name	Born 1949	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	James	86,858	48,000	54
2	Robert	83,873	47,000	58
3	John	81,178	45,000	55
4	William	61,506	34,000	51
5	Michael	60,047	33,000	49
6	David	59,611	33,000	52
7	Richard	50,946	28,000	60
8	Thomas	45,192	25,000	53
9	Charles	40,052	22,000	54
10	Larry	31,819	18,000	65
11	Ronald	31,502	17,000	64
12	Gary	28,935	16,000	65
13	Donald	27,121	15,000	64
14	Joseph	26,408	15,000	45
15	Kenneth	23,589	13,000	57
16	Dennis	21,746	12,000	63
17	Paul	21,589	12,000	57
18	George	21,308	12,000	57
19	Stephen	20,488	11,000	54
20	Steven	19,923	11,000	52
21	Edward	19,174	11,000	56
22	Daniel	18,240	10,000	42
23	Jerry	15,871	8,800	63
24	Mark	13,725	7,600	56
25	Roger	12,821	7,100	63
26	Bruce	12,265	6,800	63
27	Frank	11,960	6,600	59
28	Terry	11,457	6,400	62
29	Douglas	11,322	6,300	59
30	Raymond	11,305	6,300	56
31	Gregory	10,979	6,100	54
32	Lawrence	10,253	5,700	60
33	Gerald	9,808	5,400	64
34	Timothy	9,346	5,200	50
35	Wayne	8,927	5,000	63
36	Anthony	8,452	4,700	40
37	Walter	8,297	4,600	58
38	Peter	8,266	4,600	51
39	Patrick	8,075	4,500	47
40	Danny	8,023	4,500	57
41	Willie	7,916	4,400	64
42	Harold	7,817	4,300	66
43	Carl	7,689	4,300	60
44	Arthur	7,482	4,200	54
45	Alan	7,255	4,000	49
46	Henry	7,183	4,000	34
47	Jack	7,128	4,000	34
48	Jeffrey	6,987	3,900	53
49	Johnny	6,968	3,900	54
50	Ralph	6,748	3,700	65

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 1949, 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 1949. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 1949 babies. How we calculate this