Top names of the 1950s

The following table shows the 200 most popular given names for boy and girl babies born during the 1950s. For each rank and sex, the table shows the name and the number of occurrences of that name. The 200 most popular names were taken from a universe that includes 20,522,672 boy births and 19,735,297 girl births
Popular names of the period 1950s
Boys Girls
Rank Name Number Name Number
1 James 843,768 Mary 625,606
2 Michael 837,471 Linda 564,364
3 Robert 830,395 Patricia 459,681
4 John 797,922 Susan 437,774
5 David 769,963 Deborah 430,537
6 William 591,228 Barbara 345,722
7 Richard 535,461 Debra 341,348
8 Thomas 454,385 Karen 332,531
9 Mark 382,589 Nancy 286,812
10 Charles 361,177 Donna 270,338
11 Steven 333,666 Cynthia 263,432
12 Gary 329,933 Sandra 251,591
13 Joseph 300,012 Pamela 237,398
14 Donald 273,574 Sharon 232,807
15 Ronald 271,139 Kathleen 224,342
16 Kenneth 262,819 Carol 222,656
17 Paul 253,202 Diane 210,624
18 Larry 245,698 Brenda 209,241
19 Daniel 243,727 Cheryl 171,387
20 Stephen 207,276 Janet 167,520
21 Dennis 204,267 Elizabeth 165,656
22 Timothy 198,324 Kathy 157,930
23 Edward 188,323 Margaret 149,582
24 Jeffrey 184,668 Janice 133,620
25 George 181,031 Carolyn 124,067
26 Gregory 178,457 Denise 123,783
27 Kevin 159,010 Judy 118,060
28 Douglas 148,205 Rebecca 115,690
29 Terry 140,724 Joyce 114,984
30 Anthony 136,647 Teresa 114,283
31 Jerry 136,567 Christine 113,340
32 Bruce 136,457 Catherine 108,839
33 Randy 120,537 Shirley 108,807
34 Brian 112,336 Judith 108,758
35 Frank 112,321 Betty 103,204
36 Scott 111,819 Beverly 97,790
37 Roger 110,158 Lisa 95,824
38 Raymond 108,928 Laura 95,526
39 Peter 102,747 Theresa 89,608
40 Patrick 96,851 Connie 88,799
41 Keith 91,235 Ann 87,047
42 Lawrence 91,110 Gloria 86,705
43 Wayne 88,092 Julie 86,689
44 Danny 86,640 Gail 85,618
45 Alan 83,976 Joan 85,179
46 Gerald 82,626 Paula 84,869
47 Ricky 79,170 Peggy 84,293
48 Carl 78,752 Cindy 83,979
49 Christopher 78,333 Martha 83,190
50 Dale 75,567 Bonnie 83,013
51 Walter 72,197 Jane 82,919
52 Craig 69,481 Cathy 82,719
53 Willie 66,460 Robin 82,423
54 Johnny 65,786 Debbie 82,097
55 Arthur 65,716 Diana 80,234
56 Steve 64,212 Marilyn 80,161
57 Joe 62,620 Kathryn 77,803
58 Randall 62,450 Dorothy 74,475
59 Russell 62,406 Wanda 72,448
60 Jack 62,387 Jean 72,263
61 Henry 62,230 Vicki 71,980
62 Harold 62,183 Sheila 70,174
63 Roy 61,847 Virginia 69,783
64 Andrew 60,972 Sherry 68,322
65 Philip 60,853 Katherine 66,855
66 Ralph 60,440 Rose 66,688
67 Billy 59,277 Lynn 66,049
68 Glenn 58,714 Jo 63,939
69 Stanley 57,164 Ruth 62,538
70 Jimmy 54,892 Maria 62,458
71 Rodney 54,817 Darlene 61,886
72 Barry 54,812 Jacqueline 60,459
73 Samuel 53,767 Rita 60,265
74 Eric 53,295 Rhonda 59,816
75 Bobby 53,281 Phyllis 57,764
76 Albert 52,829 Helen 57,580
77 Phillip 52,457 Vickie 56,857
78 Ronnie 51,302 Kim 56,080
79 Martin 50,994 Lori 56,070
80 Mike 48,345 Ellen 55,392
81 Eugene 48,281 Elaine 54,232
82 Louis 47,933 Joanne 53,568
83 Howard 47,852 Anne 52,404
84 Allen 47,322 Valerie 52,230
85 Curtis 46,324 Alice 52,074
86 Jeffery 45,879 Frances 51,200
87 Frederick 44,288 Suzanne 50,330
88 Leonard 43,551 Marie 49,263
89 Harry 43,335 Victoria 49,127
90 Micheal 40,908 Kimberly 48,958
91 Tony 40,782 Anita 47,588
92 Ernest 39,680 Laurie 46,964
93 Eddie 38,598 Michelle 46,779
94 Fred 37,445 Sally 46,706
95 Darrell 37,257 Terri 46,431
96 Jay 36,969 Marcia 43,733
97 Melvin 36,165 Terry 43,194
98 Lee 35,826 Jennifer 43,075
99 Matthew 35,796 Leslie 43,049
100 Vincent 35,351 Doris 42,898
101 Tommy 34,974 Maureen 42,813
102 Francis 34,766 Wendy 42,675
103 Marvin 34,706 Michele 41,973
104 Dean 34,584 Anna 41,701
105 Rick 34,371 Marsha 41,552
106 Victor 33,887 Angela 40,357
107 Norman 33,749 Sarah 39,966
108 Earl 32,653 Sylvia 39,540
109 Jose 31,440 Jill 39,061
110 Calvin 30,555 Dawn 38,899
111 Ray 29,912 Sue 38,852
112 Clifford 29,862 Evelyn 38,411
113 Alfred 29,752 Roberta 37,916
114 Jerome 29,705 Jeanne 37,671
115 Bradley 29,507 Charlotte 36,997
116 Clarence 29,488 Eileen 36,570
117 Don 29,452 Lois 36,200
118 Theodore 29,050 Colleen 35,913
119 Jon 28,950 Stephanie 35,557
120 Rickey 27,956 Annette 35,341
121 Joel 27,859 Glenda 35,228
122 Jesse 26,655 Yvonne 35,041
123 Jim 26,215 Dianne 34,494
124 Edwin 26,213 Tina 33,990
125 Dan 26,009 Beth 33,987
126 Chris 25,897 Lorraine 33,593
127 Bernard 25,887 Constance 33,529
128 Jonathan 25,816 Renee 32,950
129 Gordon 25,741 Charlene 32,718
130 Glen 25,395 Joann 32,677
131 Jeff 24,920 Julia 32,457
132 Warren 24,602 Gwendolyn 31,945
133 Leroy 24,588 Norma 30,801
134 Herbert 24,298 Regina 30,797
135 Duane 24,144 Amy 30,583
136 Bill 23,877 Loretta 30,394
137 Benjamin 23,833 Sheryl 30,384
138 Tom 23,754 Carla 29,432
139 Alvin 23,087 Andrea 29,380
140 Nicholas 22,614 Tammy 29,176
141 Tim 22,202 Irene 26,978
142 Mitchell 21,962 Jan 26,169
143 Marc 21,951 Louise 25,852
144 Leslie 21,381 Juanita 25,656
145 Leon 21,341 Marlene 25,251
146 Kim 21,208 Penny 25,123
147 Dwight 20,848 Rosemary 25,020
148 Bryan 20,628 Becky 24,837
149 Lloyd 20,619 Kay 24,645
150 Vernon 20,133 Joy 24,518
151 Gene 19,694 Geraldine 24,222
152 Reginald 19,338 Jeanette 23,984
153 Lonnie 19,198 Gayle 23,727
154 Guy 19,158 Annie 23,682
155 Gilbert 18,852 Vivian 23,554
156 Garry 18,792 Claudia 23,150
157 Juan 18,771 Lynda 22,689
158 Karl 18,731 Melissa 22,293
159 Kent 18,691 Audrey 22,225
160 Kurt 18,642 Lynne 22,194
161 Todd 18,569 Patsy 21,734
162 Jackie 18,446 Melinda 21,509
163 Greg 18,229 Vicky 21,330
164 Lewis 18,133 Toni 21,308
165 Wesley 18,074 June 21,101
166 Clyde 17,906 Belinda 20,941
167 Floyd 17,859 Marjorie 20,941
168 Neil 17,715 Arlene 20,652
169 Allan 17,697 Patti 20,604
170 Donnie 17,171 Ruby 20,550
171 Perry 17,078 Sara 20,491
172 Franklin 17,007 Yolanda 19,949
173 Lester 16,568 Rosa 19,876
174 Brad 16,461 Melanie 19,849
175 Manuel 16,376 Christina 19,844
176 Kirk 16,223 Delores 19,363
177 Carlos 15,821 Jackie 19,303
178 Leo 15,536 Vanessa 19,170
179 Jimmie 15,535 Carmen 18,953
180 Randolph 15,496 Monica 18,722
181 Charlie 15,282 Janis 18,673
182 Robin 15,225 Holly 18,633
183 Dana 15,160 Marianne 18,480
184 Darryl 15,083 Dolores 18,304
185 Dave 14,837 Shelley 18,226
186 Ted 14,719 Veronica 17,622
187 Milton 14,578 Mildred 17,573
188 Daryl 14,506 Eva 17,114
189 Kerry 14,416 Dana 17,106
190 Freddie 14,405 Rachel 16,775
191 Brent 14,335 Shelia 16,752
192 Harvey 14,247 Roxanne 16,608
193 Gerard 14,216 Carole 16,535
194 Stuart 14,072 Lillian 16,509
195 Johnnie 14,046 Josephine 16,412
196 Herman 13,832 Carrie 16,179
197 Lynn 13,774 Patty 16,106
198 Rex 13,499 Sherri 16,104
199 Arnold 13,196 Doreen 16,090
200 Kelly 13,134 Grace 15,929
Source: 100% sample based on Social Security card application data as of of March 2026. See the limitations of this data source.