1950s Baby Names

15,671 names were given to children in the United States between 1950 and 1959, ranked below by how many.

A name's place is its total across those ten years. Names that appear in only some of the decade say so, because a name recorded once is a different fact from one recorded every year.

All Girls Boys Unisex

Rankings for

#1
James James is a boy's name of Hebrew origin, an English form of Jacob by way of Late Latin Iacomus.
846,311 in the 1950s
#2
Michael Michael is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "who is like God?" — a rhetorical question expecting the answer that no one is.
839,784 in the 1950s
#3
Robert Robert is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "bright fame," from hrod, fame, and beraht, bright.
832,594 in the 1950s
#4
John John is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "Yahweh is gracious," from Yochanan.
799,918 in the 1950s
#5
David David is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "beloved," from Dawid.
771,543 in the 1950s
#6
Mary Mary is a girl's name of Hebrew origin whose meaning has never been settled.
627,144 in the 1950s
#7
William William is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "resolute protection," from wil, meaning will or desire, and helm, meaning helmet.
592,617 in the 1950s
#8
Linda Linda is a girl's name usually read as beautiful in Spanish or as a Germanic element meaning soft or tender.
565,533 in the 1950s
#9
Richard Richard is a boy's name from Germanic roots meaning strong or brave ruler.
536,610 in the 1950s
#10
Patricia Patricia is a girl's name from the Latin for noble or patrician, the feminine of Patrick.
460,702 in the 1950s
#11
Thomas Thomas is a boy's name of Aramaic origin meaning "twin," from te'oma.
455,339 in the 1950s
#12
Susan Susan is a girl's name from a Hebrew word for lily, taken in turn from an Egyptian word for lotus.
438,469 in the 1950s
#13
Deborah Deborah is a girl's name from the Hebrew for bee, borne by the only woman to lead Israel as a judge.
431,325 in the 1950s
#14
Mark Mark is a boy's name of Latin origin, most likely meaning "of Mars," borne by the evangelist who wrote the earliest gospel.
383,235 in the 1950s
#15
Charles Charles is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "free man," from karl.
362,602 in the 1950s
#16
Barbara Barbara is a girl's name from the Greek for foreign or strange, the feminine of the word that gives us barbarian.
346,415 in the 1950s
#17
Debra Debra is a girl's name, the phonetic respelling of Deborah, from the Hebrew for bee.
341,939 in the 1950s
#18
Steven Steven is a boy's name from the Greek for crown or garland, and the phonetic respelling of Stephen.
334,277 in the 1950s
#19
Karen Karen is a girl's name, the Danish form of Katherine, and it inherits that name's unknown meaning.
333,094 in the 1950s
#20
Gary Gary is a boy's name that reached the charts by an unusually traceable route: a surname became a steel town in Indiana, the town's name was given to an actor, and the actor made it a first name.
330,690 in the 1950s
#21
Joseph Joseph is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add," from Yosef.
300,765 in the 1950s
#22
Nancy Nancy is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "grace."
287,352 in the 1950s
#23
Donald Donald is a boy's name from the Scottish Gaelic Dòmhnall, meaning world ruler.
274,325 in the 1950s
#24
Ronald Ronald is a boy's name from the Old Norse Rögnvaldr, meaning ruler's counsel, brought to Scotland by Norse settlement.
271,854 in the 1950s
#25
Donna Donna is a girl's name from the Italian word for a lady, a title used as a name.
270,842 in the 1950s
#26
Cynthia Cynthia is a girl's name that began as a title for the moon goddess — it means she of Mount Cynthus, the peak on Delos where Artemis was said to have been born.
263,892 in the 1950s
#27
Kenneth Kenneth is a boy's name anglicizing two separate Gaelic names, one meaning born of fire and one meaning handsome.
263,535 in the 1950s
#28
Paul Paul is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "small" or "humble," borne by the apostle whose letters shaped Christian doctrine.
253,817 in the 1950s
#29
Sandra Sandra is a girl's name that began as an Italian short form of Alessandra and became independent in the twentieth century.
252,071 in the 1950s
#30
Larry Larry is a boy's name, the short form of Lawrence, from a Roman name meaning of Laurentum.
246,693 in the 1950s
#31
Daniel Daniel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my judge," from Daniyyel.
244,223 in the 1950s
#32
Pamela Pamela is a girl's name invented by a poet: Sir Philip Sidney coined it for his Arcadia around 1580, apparently from Greek elements meaning all sweetness.
237,775 in the 1950s
#33
Sharon Sharon is a girl's name taken from a place rather than a person — the fertile coastal plain of Sharon in Israel, known from the rose of Sharon in the Song of Songs.
233,299 in the 1950s
#34
Kathleen Kathleen is a girl's name anglicizing the Irish Caitlín, a form of Catherine, and it inherits that name's unknown meaning.
224,736 in the 1950s
#35
Carol Carol is a girl's name with two independent sources: a short form of Caroline, and the word for a joyful song.
223,570 in the 1950s
#36
Diane Diane is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "divine" or "heavenly," the French form of the Roman goddess Diana.
211,057 in the 1950s
#37
Brenda Brenda is a girl's name from an Old Norse word for a sword or a torch, and it appears to have been invented for a novel — Walter Scott used it in The Pirate in 1822, and no earlier use is recorded.
209,689 in the 1950s
#38
Stephen Stephen is a boy's name from the Greek for crown or garland, borne by the first Christian martyr.
207,627 in the 1950s
#39
Dennis Dennis is a boy's name that traces back to Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and ecstatic release — one of the few widely used Christian names derived from a pagan deity.
204,785 in the 1950s
#40
Timothy Timothy is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "honoring God."
198,780 in the 1950s
#41
Edward Edward is a boy's name of Old English origin meaning "wealthy guardian."
188,880 in the 1950s
#42
Jeffrey Jeffrey is a boy's name from Germanic roots whose first element is disputed, though the second means peace.
185,040 in the 1950s
#43
Terry Terry is a name serving as a short form of Terence and of the Germanic Theodoric, two unrelated names, and it is mixed — about 18 percent of recorded births are female.
183,918 in the 1950s
#44
George George is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "farmer" or "worker of the earth," from ge, earth, and ergon, work.
182,054 in the 1950s
#45
Gregory Gregory is a boy's name from the Greek for watchful or alert.
178,951 in the 1950s
#46
Cheryl Cheryl is a girl's name coined in twentieth-century America, probably by blending Cherie with Beryl.
171,679 in the 1950s
#47
Janet Janet is a girl's name, a Scottish diminutive of Jane meaning God is gracious.
167,829 in the 1950s
#48
Elizabeth Elizabeth is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my oath," from Elisheva, the name of Aaron's wife in the Book of Exodus.
166,022 in the 1950s

What Made a 1950s Name

Children in the United States were registered with it between 1950 and 1959. A name's position here is how many of them were.

Why Some Names Only Cover Part of the Decade

A name that appears in three of the ten years either arrived partway through or faded out — and either is more interesting than the total on its own. The statistics offices do not publish names given to very few children in a year, so a gap can also mean the count dropped below the threshold rather than to nothing.

Where to Go Next

Open any name to see its full curve — most of these have a hundred and forty years of it. Or compare the ends of the same measurement: the most popular names now and the rarest.