Top names of the 1950s

The following table shows the 200 most popular given names for male and female 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 20,522,707 male births and 19,735,337 female births
Popular names of the period 1950s
Males Females
Rank Name Number Name Number
1 James 843,776 Mary 625,609
2 Michael 837,466 Linda 564,363
3 Robert 830,391 Patricia 459,686
4 John 797,917 Susan 437,773
5 David 769,951 Deborah 430,541
6 William 591,226 Barbara 345,723
7 Richard 535,453 Debra 341,347
8 Thomas 454,385 Karen 332,533
9 Mark 382,585 Nancy 286,812
10 Charles 361,178 Donna 270,333
11 Steven 333,657 Cynthia 263,429
12 Gary 329,935 Sandra 251,594
13 Joseph 300,006 Pamela 237,395
14 Donald 273,576 Sharon 232,809
15 Ronald 271,146 Kathleen 224,341
16 Kenneth 262,822 Carol 222,654
17 Paul 253,191 Diane 210,627
18 Larry 245,690 Brenda 209,243
19 Daniel 243,725 Cheryl 171,390
20 Stephen 207,276 Janet 167,519
21 Dennis 204,267 Elizabeth 165,658
22 Timothy 198,322 Kathy 157,930
23 Edward 188,328 Margaret 149,583
24 Jeffrey 184,663 Janice 133,619
25 George 181,029 Carolyn 124,067
26 Gregory 178,453 Denise 123,783
27 Kevin 159,010 Judy 118,061
28 Douglas 148,204 Rebecca 115,691
29 Terry 140,724 Joyce 114,983
30 Anthony 136,652 Teresa 114,284
31 Jerry 136,571 Christine 113,340
32 Bruce 136,459 Catherine 108,837
33 Randy 120,534 Shirley 108,807
34 Brian 112,336 Judith 108,756
35 Frank 112,321 Betty 103,204
36 Scott 111,821 Beverly 97,789
37 Roger 110,156 Lisa 95,823
38 Raymond 108,932 Laura 95,527
39 Peter 102,754 Theresa 89,605
40 Patrick 96,856 Connie 88,800
41 Keith 91,236 Ann 87,046
42 Lawrence 91,109 Gloria 86,706
43 Wayne 88,092 Julie 86,689
44 Danny 86,640 Gail 85,619
45 Alan 83,977 Joan 85,179
46 Gerald 82,625 Paula 84,869
47 Ricky 79,169 Peggy 84,294
48 Carl 78,754 Cindy 83,980
49 Christopher 78,334 Martha 83,189
50 Dale 75,567 Bonnie 83,011
51 Walter 72,196 Jane 82,919
52 Craig 69,480 Cathy 82,718
53 Willie 66,461 Robin 82,424
54 Johnny 65,786 Debbie 82,099
55 Arthur 65,720 Diana 80,235
56 Steve 64,215 Marilyn 80,161
57 Joe 62,620 Kathryn 77,803
58 Randall 62,452 Dorothy 74,476
59 Russell 62,401 Wanda 72,447
60 Jack 62,385 Jean 72,263
61 Henry 62,232 Vicki 71,980
62 Harold 62,181 Sheila 70,174
63 Roy 61,847 Virginia 69,783
64 Andrew 60,970 Sherry 68,322
65 Philip 60,851 Katherine 66,854
66 Ralph 60,442 Rose 66,688
67 Billy 59,278 Lynn 66,047
68 Glenn 58,712 Jo 63,941
69 Stanley 57,162 Ruth 62,537
70 Jimmy 54,891 Maria 62,452
71 Rodney 54,817 Darlene 61,886
72 Barry 54,812 Jacqueline 60,460
73 Samuel 53,766 Rita 60,265
74 Eric 53,297 Rhonda 59,818
75 Bobby 53,282 Phyllis 57,766
76 Albert 52,835 Helen 57,578
77 Phillip 52,458 Vickie 56,857
78 Ronnie 51,300 Kim 56,081
79 Martin 50,992 Lori 56,070
80 Mike 48,349 Ellen 55,390
81 Eugene 48,279 Elaine 54,232
82 Louis 47,931 Joanne 53,570
83 Howard 47,855 Anne 52,403
84 Allen 47,321 Valerie 52,232
85 Curtis 46,321 Alice 52,075
86 Jeffery 45,878 Frances 51,200
87 Frederick 44,285 Suzanne 50,331
88 Leonard 43,553 Marie 49,266
89 Harry 43,334 Victoria 49,126
90 Micheal 40,910 Kimberly 48,958
91 Tony 40,786 Anita 47,591
92 Ernest 39,679 Laurie 46,962
93 Eddie 38,595 Michelle 46,779
94 Fred 37,446 Sally 46,706
95 Darrell 37,258 Terri 46,431
96 Jay 36,969 Marcia 43,734
97 Melvin 36,165 Terry 43,194
98 Lee 35,826 Jennifer 43,074
99 Matthew 35,800 Leslie 43,048
100 Vincent 35,352 Doris 42,897
101 Tommy 34,972 Maureen 42,813
102 Francis 34,765 Wendy 42,675
103 Marvin 34,706 Michele 41,973
104 Dean 34,587 Anna 41,700
105 Rick 34,371 Marsha 41,553
106 Victor 33,886 Angela 40,357
107 Norman 33,749 Sarah 39,967
108 Earl 32,652 Sylvia 39,540
109 Jose 31,442 Jill 39,060
110 Calvin 30,555 Dawn 38,899
111 Ray 29,914 Sue 38,852
112 Clifford 29,861 Evelyn 38,411
113 Alfred 29,751 Roberta 37,915
114 Jerome 29,705 Jeanne 37,671
115 Bradley 29,506 Charlotte 36,998
116 Clarence 29,486 Eileen 36,569
117 Don 29,451 Lois 36,201
118 Theodore 29,049 Colleen 35,913
119 Jon 28,949 Stephanie 35,557
120 Rickey 27,956 Annette 35,343
121 Joel 27,860 Glenda 35,228
122 Jesse 26,654 Yvonne 35,042
123 Jim 26,215 Dianne 34,494
124 Edwin 26,214 Tina 33,990
125 Dan 26,010 Beth 33,986
126 Chris 25,901 Lorraine 33,591
127 Bernard 25,889 Constance 33,528
128 Jonathan 25,817 Renee 32,949
129 Gordon 25,740 Charlene 32,718
130 Glen 25,396 Joann 32,674
131 Jeff 24,921 Julia 32,456
132 Warren 24,604 Gwendolyn 31,944
133 Leroy 24,589 Norma 30,801
134 Herbert 24,296 Regina 30,794
135 Duane 24,143 Amy 30,583
136 Bill 23,878 Loretta 30,394
137 Benjamin 23,834 Sheryl 30,383
138 Tom 23,754 Carla 29,432
139 Alvin 23,087 Andrea 29,380
140 Nicholas 22,614 Tammy 29,179
141 Tim 22,200 Irene 26,978
142 Mitchell 21,962 Jan 26,169
143 Marc 21,947 Louise 25,853
144 Leslie 21,382 Juanita 25,654
145 Leon 21,342 Marlene 25,252
146 Kim 21,208 Penny 25,124
147 Dwight 20,848 Rosemary 25,019
148 Bryan 20,628 Becky 24,839
149 Lloyd 20,620 Kay 24,645
150 Vernon 20,134 Joy 24,518
151 Gene 19,695 Geraldine 24,222
152 Reginald 19,338 Jeanette 23,984
153 Lonnie 19,198 Gayle 23,727
154 Guy 19,157 Annie 23,682
155 Gilbert 18,850 Vivian 23,554
156 Garry 18,791 Claudia 23,149
157 Juan 18,768 Lynda 22,689
158 Karl 18,731 Melissa 22,293
159 Kent 18,691 Audrey 22,225
160 Kurt 18,641 Lynne 22,194
161 Todd 18,569 Patsy 21,734
162 Jackie 18,446 Melinda 21,509
163 Greg 18,230 Vicky 21,329
164 Lewis 18,134 Toni 21,308
165 Wesley 18,073 June 21,101
166 Clyde 17,907 Belinda 20,942
167 Floyd 17,859 Marjorie 20,941
168 Neil 17,716 Arlene 20,653
169 Allan 17,696 Patti 20,604
170 Donnie 17,171 Ruby 20,549
171 Perry 17,078 Sara 20,491
172 Franklin 17,012 Yolanda 19,947
173 Lester 16,570 Rosa 19,876
174 Brad 16,461 Melanie 19,852
175 Manuel 16,375 Christina 19,845
176 Kirk 16,223 Delores 19,363
177 Carlos 15,822 Jackie 19,303
178 Leo 15,537 Vanessa 19,170
179 Jimmie 15,535 Carmen 18,953
180 Randolph 15,496 Monica 18,722
181 Charlie 15,282 Janis 18,674
182 Robin 15,224 Holly 18,634
183 Dana 15,159 Marianne 18,480
184 Darryl 15,086 Dolores 18,305
185 Dave 14,840 Shelley 18,227
186 Ted 14,719 Veronica 17,623
187 Milton 14,580 Mildred 17,573
188 Daryl 14,505 Eva 17,114
189 Kerry 14,417 Dana 17,106
190 Freddie 14,405 Rachel 16,776
191 Brent 14,335 Shelia 16,753
192 Harvey 14,248 Roxanne 16,608
193 Gerard 14,216 Carole 16,535
194 Stuart 14,073 Lillian 16,508
195 Johnnie 14,047 Josephine 16,412
196 Herman 13,833 Carrie 16,179
197 Lynn 13,774 Patty 16,106
198 Rex 13,500 Sherri 16,105
199 Arnold 13,195 Doreen 16,090
200 Kelly 13,133 Grace 15,929
Source: 100% sample based on Social Security card application data as of of March 2025. See the limitations of this data source.