Top NZ Baby Names of 1939

Margaret (708) and John (977) were New Zealand's most registered names in 1939. Below are the top 50 girls' and boys' names for the year. See the whole 1930s for context.

Top 50 girls' names

  1. 1Margaret708
  2. 2Patricia546
  3. 3Judith347
  4. 4Barbara321
  5. 5Beverley309
  6. 6Mary300
  7. 7Elizabeth239
  8. 8Valerie238
  9. 9Shirley223
  10. 10Joan220
  11. 11Colleen209
  12. 12Pamela208
  13. 13Janice201
  14. 14Dorothy190
  15. 15Maureen190
  16. 16Jennifer182
  17. 17Helen174
  18. 18Marie157
  19. 19Janet148
  20. 20Kathleen147
  21. 21Yvonne146
  22. 22June137
  23. 23Elaine132
  24. 24Heather130
  25. 25Lorraine120
  26. 26Anne119
  27. 27Jean119
  28. 28Jeanette119
  29. 29Ngaire101
  30. 30Beverly98
  31. 31Lois97
  32. 32Betty96
  33. 33Frances96
  34. 34Pauline96
  35. 35Doreen95
  36. 36Alison90
  37. 37Annette90
  38. 38Ann88
  39. 39Marion87
  40. 40Noeline87
  41. 41Dawn83
  42. 42Carol80
  43. 43Fay79
  44. 44Joyce79
  45. 45Nancy76
  46. 46Joy73
  47. 47Eileen71
  48. 48Jocelyn71
  49. 49Rosalie69
  50. 50Daphne68

Top 50 boys' names

  1. 1John977
  2. 2Peter582
  3. 3David569
  4. 4Robert557
  5. 5William557
  6. 6Brian514
  7. 7James394
  8. 8Ian310
  9. 9Ronald285
  10. 10Graham276
  11. 11Donald272
  12. 12Barry244
  13. 13Raymond232
  14. 14Michael226
  15. 15Colin221
  16. 16Bruce211
  17. 17Kenneth199
  18. 18George194
  19. 19Graeme194
  20. 20Richard180
  21. 21Thomas179
  22. 22Anthony175
  23. 23Alan168
  24. 24Neville168
  25. 25Trevor161
  26. 26Gary157
  27. 27Edward150
  28. 28Kevin146
  29. 29Douglas135
  30. 30Murray135
  31. 31Paul129
  32. 32Allan127
  33. 33Leslie126
  34. 34Gordon118
  35. 35Terence116
  36. 36Arthur115
  37. 37Charles115
  38. 38Noel113
  39. 39Roger108
  40. 40Neil107
  41. 41Maurice105
  42. 42Patrick99
  43. 43Keith96
  44. 44Russell92
  45. 45Dennis90
  46. 46Bryan88
  47. 47Malcolm84
  48. 48Frederick83
  49. 49Norman82
  50. 50Robin82

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.