1950s Baby Names
8,957 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
What made a 1950s name
Nothing about the sound of it. A name is on this page because children in the United States were registered with it between 1950 and 1959, and its position is simply how many. Every list of "1950s names" you will find elsewhere is somebody's sense of the period; this one is the register.
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.