Top NZ Baby Names of 1936

Margaret (743) and John (925) were New Zealand's most registered names in 1936. Below are the top 50 girls' and boys' names for the year. See the whole 1930s for context.

Top 50 girls' names

  1. 1Margaret743
  2. 2Shirley454
  3. 3Patricia344
  4. 4Mary308
  5. 5Beverley259
  6. 6Barbara255
  7. 7Joan234
  8. 8Valerie216
  9. 9Elizabeth212
  10. 10Dorothy205
  11. 11Judith202
  12. 12Jean164
  13. 13Maureen161
  14. 14Pamela153
  15. 15Colleen149
  16. 16Betty143
  17. 17Helen141
  18. 18Kathleen137
  19. 19Janet130
  20. 20Marie128
  21. 21June127
  22. 22Heather117
  23. 23Elaine103
  24. 24Anne102
  25. 25Yvonne97
  26. 26Doreen93
  27. 27Noeline93
  28. 28Janice92
  29. 29Jennifer92
  30. 30Ngaire91
  31. 31Eileen90
  32. 32Nancy90
  33. 33Dawn87
  34. 34Joyce86
  35. 35Frances84
  36. 36Marion83
  37. 37Lois79
  38. 38Alison78
  39. 39Audrey76
  40. 40Beverly76
  41. 41Lorraine75
  42. 42Ann73
  43. 43Nola69
  44. 44Joy68
  45. 45Pauline68
  46. 46Fay67
  47. 47Evelyn64
  48. 48Marjorie61
  49. 49Sylvia59
  50. 50Josephine57

Top 50 boys' names

  1. 1John925
  2. 2William508
  3. 3Robert431
  4. 4Peter428
  5. 5David406
  6. 6Brian395
  7. 7James343
  8. 8Ronald331
  9. 9Donald285
  10. 10Graham253
  11. 11Ian247
  12. 12Colin231
  13. 13Barry215
  14. 14Raymond205
  15. 15George187
  16. 16Kenneth184
  17. 17Thomas182
  18. 18Richard181
  19. 19Edward178
  20. 20Bruce170
  21. 21Graeme151
  22. 22Trevor151
  23. 23Michael140
  24. 24Gordon122
  25. 25Charles118
  26. 26Alan116
  27. 27Douglas116
  28. 28Allan111
  29. 29Leslie111
  30. 30Keith109
  31. 31Arthur108
  32. 32Murray107
  33. 33Noel103
  34. 34Maurice94
  35. 35Patrick93
  36. 36Frederick86
  37. 37Norman86
  38. 38Desmond84
  39. 39Kevin82
  40. 40Alexander80
  41. 41Neil79
  42. 42Rex78
  43. 43Albert76
  44. 44Francis76
  45. 45Malcolm76
  46. 46Eric75
  47. 47Anthony74
  48. 48Stanley72
  49. 49Paul68
  50. 50Walter68

About this data: figures come from Department of Internal Affairs birth registrations for 1954-2025. The DIA only publishes a name for a given year when at least 10 babies were registered with it, so rarer names - and rarer spellings - are missing entirely, and a name can drop out of the record in quieter years. Spelling variants are counted separately, and counts reflect first names as registered.