1950s Baby Names
9,057 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.
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#197Angela Angela is a girl's name from the Greek for messenger, the word that also gives us angel.40,463 in the 1950s
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#199Sarah Sarah is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "princess" or "noblewoman."40,086 in the 1950s
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#205Evelyn Evelyn is a girl's name of English and French origin meaning "desired" or "wished for".38,556 in the 1950s
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#206Roberta Roberta is a girl's name meaning bright fame, the feminine of Robert.38,027 in the 1950s
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#219Stephanie Stephanie is a girl's name from the Greek for crown or garland, the feminine of Stephen.35,621 in the 1950s
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#221Annette Annette is a girl's name meaning grace, a French diminutive of Anne.35,421 in the 1950s
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#224Yvonne Yvonne is a girl's name from a Germanic word for the yew tree, by way of Breton.35,147 in the 1950s
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#235Renee Renee is a girl's name from the Latin for reborn, given at baptism to mark spiritual rebirth.33,132 in the 1950s
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#237Charlene Charlene is a girl's name meaning free man, a feminine of Charles.32,798 in the 1950s
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#238Joann Joann is a girl's name meaning God is gracious, a simplified spelling of Joanna.32,738 in the 1950s
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#239Julia Julia is a girl's name of Latin origin, the feminine of the Roman family name Julius.32,575 in the 1950s
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#259Carla Carla is a girl's name meaning free man, the Italian and Spanish feminine of Carlo.29,490 in the 1950s
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#275Juanita Juanita is a girl's name meaning God is gracious, the Spanish diminutive of Juana.25,742 in the 1950s
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#284Joy Joy is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning exactly what it says, taken from the English word.24,701 in the 1950s
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#290Jeanette Jeanette means God is gracious, a French double diminutive of Jeanne.24,031 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.