1950s Baby Names

5,178 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

#952
Javier Javier means the new house, and it is Basque rather than Spanish — Saint Francis Xavier was named for his family's castle at Xabier, so the name is a place that became a surname and then a first name.
2,899 in the 1950s
#957
Ernesto Ernesto means serious in the deadly sense — the Germanic eornost named vigor in a fight, and the modern in earnest still keeps that force, meaning for real rather than in play.
2,861 in the 1950s
#960
Wilfred Wilfred is a boy's name of Old English origin meaning "desiring peace."
2,838 in the 1950s
#961
Enrique Enrique means ruler of the estate, and the home in it is territorial rather than domestic — the Germanic element named the land a lord held, not the house he lived in.
2,834 in the 1950s
#962
Amos
2,826 in the 1950s
#963
Woodrow
2,814 in the 1950s
#965
Denny
2,796 in the 1950s
#967
Moses Moses is explained in Exodus as drawn out of the water, but the name is more likely Egyptian — mose means born of, and it is the second half of Thutmose and Ramose, where the god's name sits in front.
2,780 in the 1950s
#968
Orlando Orlando is Roland with its consonants swapped — Italian moved the r, and the hero of the Song of Roland became the hero of Orlando Furioso, the same man under a rearranged name.
2,777 in the 1950s
#971
Scot
2,774 in the 1950s
#972
Alphonso
2,768 in the 1950s
#973
Lanny
2,767 in the 1950s
#975
Cedric Cedric was invented by Walter Scott in Ivanhoe in 1819, and it appears to be a misspelling — he took the Anglo-Saxon Cerdic and transposed the letters.
2,747 in the 1950s
#976
Shane Shane is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is gracious," and it exists because English speakers wrote down how Ulster pronounced Seán.
2,740 in the 1950s
#978
Elton
2,731 in the 1950s
#981
Harlan
2,720 in the 1950s
#983
Norris
2,699 in the 1950s
#984
Dirk
2,688 in the 1950s
#985
Barney
2,684 in the 1950s
#996
Donny
2,620 in the 1950s
#1,003
Ned
2,596 in the 1950s
#1,005
Julio Julio means downy-bearded, and France ranks it 517th — above the United States at 641st, which is not where a Spanish form of a Roman family name would be expected to lead.
2,585 in the 1950s
#1,013
Joesph
2,547 in the 1950s
#1,014
Winston Winston is a boy's name of English origin meaning "Wine's settlement", from an Old English personal name plus tun.
2,540 in the 1950s
#1,015
Vaughn
2,525 in the 1950s
#1,016
Eldon
2,523 in the 1950s
#1,025
Dane
2,499 in the 1950s
#1,026
Reed Reed is a boy's name of English origin meaning "red" — a nickname for someone with red hair or a ruddy complexion.
2,494 in the 1950s
#1,029
Grover
2,478 in the 1950s
#1,032
Randell
2,465 in the 1950s
#1,033
Colin Colin has two entirely separate origins — a French pet form of Nicolas, and the Scottish Gaelic Cailean.
2,459 in the 1950s
#1,035
Erik Erik is a boy's name meaning ever-ruler or sole ruler, from Old Norse.
2,450 in the 1950s
#1,043
Irving Irving names a Scottish river valley, and it reached American use largely through one writer — Washington Irving, who gave English both Rip Van Winkle and the nickname Gotham for New York.
2,403 in the 1950s
#1,045
Lon
2,401 in the 1950s
#1,048
Emanuel Emanuel began as a sign rather than a name — Isaiah tells Ahaz that a child will be called God with us as proof of a prophecy, and the phrase became a personal name only afterward.
2,386 in the 1950s
#1,051
Junior Junior is a boy's name from the Latin for younger, used first as a suffix marking a son who shares his father's name and only later as a name in its own right.
2,375 in the 1950s
#1,053
Stan
2,368 in the 1950s
#1,056
Lavern
2,358 in the 1950s
#1,057
Christophe Christophe is a boy's name meaning bearer of Christ, and the legend behind it explains the saint who carries travelers across a river on his shoulders.
2,354 in the 1950s
#1,062
Lane Lane means a narrow way between hedges, and it is one of only two names in this sweep birth records mark as rising — it peaked in 2019 and stands at 250th in the United States on 1,495 births.
2,341 in the 1950s
#1,065
Elijah Elijah is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "my God is Yahweh," from Eliyahu.
2,319 in the 1950s
#1,066
Linwood
2,316 in the 1950s
#1,068
Luke Luke is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "man from Lucania," a region of southern Italy.
2,308 in the 1950s
#1,069
Terrell
2,297 in the 1950s
#1,070
Justin Justin is a boy's name from the Latin for just or righteous.
2,295 in the 1950s
#1,072
Orville
2,290 in the 1950s
#1,075
Marlon
2,274 in the 1950s
#1,080
Jerrold
2,261 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.