Top NZ Baby Names of 1944

Margaret (681) and John (1,170) were New Zealand's most registered names in 1944. Below are the top 50 girls' and boys' names for the year. See the whole 1940s for context.

Top 50 girls' names

  1. 1Margaret681
  2. 2Patricia481
  3. 3Judith477
  4. 4Janice367
  5. 5Mary348
  6. 6Barbara320
  7. 7Helen287
  8. 8Pamela280
  9. 9Shirley269
  10. 10Elizabeth266
  11. 11Heather251
  12. 12Beverley243
  13. 13Jennifer237
  14. 14Lynette215
  15. 15Colleen212
  16. 16Carol201
  17. 17Kathleen200
  18. 18Maureen194
  19. 19Lorraine185
  20. 20Diane182
  21. 21Dorothy172
  22. 22Janet169
  23. 23Valerie165
  24. 24Marie148
  25. 25Joan142
  26. 26Pauline141
  27. 27Alison137
  28. 28Susan136
  29. 29Frances123
  30. 30Elaine119
  31. 31Lois115
  32. 32Anne109
  33. 33Annette108
  34. 34Ann107
  35. 35Robyn107
  36. 36Yvonne107
  37. 37Christine105
  38. 38Raewyn104
  39. 39Sandra104
  40. 40Jeanette102
  41. 41Lesley102
  42. 42Marion101
  43. 43Glenys100
  44. 44Rosemary97
  45. 45Irene96
  46. 46Dianne93
  47. 47Catherine91
  48. 48Jean90
  49. 49Marilyn88
  50. 50Gloria87

Top 50 boys' names

  1. 1John1,170
  2. 2David734
  3. 3Peter631
  4. 4Robert629
  5. 5William512
  6. 6Brian461
  7. 7Ian375
  8. 8Michael369
  9. 9James345
  10. 10Kenneth298
  11. 11Raymond288
  12. 12Colin284
  13. 13Kevin284
  14. 14Donald282
  15. 15Richard271
  16. 16Alan269
  17. 17Bruce264
  18. 18Graham264
  19. 19Graeme262
  20. 20Barry242
  21. 21Ronald242
  22. 22Anthony237
  23. 23Murray209
  24. 24Trevor188
  25. 25Allan175
  26. 26Paul173
  27. 27Gary171
  28. 28Roger171
  29. 29Wayne162
  30. 30Thomas160
  31. 31Douglas152
  32. 32Dennis149
  33. 33Keith149
  34. 34Terence139
  35. 35Russell135
  36. 36Neil134
  37. 37George131
  38. 38Ross127
  39. 39Leslie120
  40. 40Edward119
  41. 41Gordon118
  42. 42Geoffrey117
  43. 43Robin113
  44. 44Noel111
  45. 45Patrick108
  46. 46Charles100
  47. 47Arthur99
  48. 48Neville98
  49. 49Eric96
  50. 50Malcolm96

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.