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

#97
Martha Martha is a girl's name of Aramaic origin meaning "lady" or "mistress of the house."
83,395 in the 1950s
#98
Jane Jane is a girl's name from the Hebrew for God is gracious, the English feminine of John.
83,095 in the 1950s
#99
Gerald Gerald is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning rule of the spear, and it gave Ireland one of its great Norman dynasties, the FitzGeralds.
82,975 in the 1950s
#100
Cathy Cathy is a girl's name, a pet form of Catherine whose meaning has never been established.
82,859 in the 1950s
#101
Debbie Debbie is a girl's name meaning bee, a pet form of Deborah.
82,295 in the 1950s
#102
Diana Diana is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "divine" or "heavenly," the Roman goddess of the hunt and the moon.
80,403 in the 1950s
#103
Marilyn Marilyn is a girl's name usually read as a blend of Mary and Lyn.
80,328 in the 1950s
#104
Lynn Lynn is a name from a Welsh and Gaelic word for a lake or a pool below a waterfall.
79,823 in the 1950s
#105
Ricky Ricky is a boy's name, the pet form of Richard or Ricardo, meaning strong ruler.
79,644 in the 1950s
#106
Carl Carl is a boy's name from the Germanic word for a free man, the same root as Charles.
79,064 in the 1950s
#107
Christopher Christopher is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "bearer of Christ," from Christos and pherein, to carry.
78,655 in the 1950s
#108
Kathryn Kathryn is a girl's name, the y-spelling of Katherine, and it inherits that name's unknown meaning.
77,933 in the 1950s
#109
Kim Kim is a name that arrives from three unrelated directions — an English place name, Kipling's 1901 novel, and the most common Korean surname in the world.
77,288 in the 1950s
#110
Willie Willie is a pet form of William meaning resolute protector, and one of the more mixed names on record — a quarter of the births we hold are female, which is unusual for a name read today as male.
76,519 in the 1950s
#111
Dorothy Dorothy is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "gift of God."
74,712 in the 1950s
#112
Jean Jean is a unisex name on record: the French form of John, meaning "God is gracious," and separately a Scottish feminine form of Jane.
73,779 in the 1950s
#113
Wanda Wanda is a girl's name from Polish, borne by a legendary queen who drowned herself in the Vistula rather than marry a German prince.
72,636 in the 1950s
#114
Walter Walter is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning ruler of the army.
72,529 in the 1950s
#115
Vicki Vicki means victory, shortened from Victoria — and Victoria was a rare name in Britain before the queen, not a traditional one she happened to carry.
72,108 in the 1950s
#116
Sheila Sheila is the Irish form of Cecilia, meaning blind — and parents outside Ireland should know it became Australian slang for a woman in the nineteenth century, which is why it barely charts there.
70,329 in the 1950s
#117
Virginia Virginia is a girl's name from a Roman family name, and the American state was named before the name became common in America — both honoring Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen.
69,956 in the 1950s
#118
Craig Craig is a boy's name from the Gaelic word for a rock or crag, and one of the few names that is a plain landscape noun rather than a compound.
69,642 in the 1950s
#119
Sherry Sherry is a girl's name that appears to have been taken from the wine, whose own name is a corruption of the Spanish town Jerez.
68,500 in the 1950s
#120
Katherine Katherine is a girl's name whose meaning is not settled.
67,002 in the 1950s
#121
Rose Rose is a girl's name of Latin origin naming the flower, from rosa.
66,891 in the 1950s
#122
Johnny Johnny is a boy's name, the pet form of John, meaning God is gracious.
66,415 in the 1950s
#123
Arthur Arthur is a boy's name of disputed origin.
66,028 in the 1950s
#124
Joe Joe is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add," a short form of Joseph that has become the English word for an ordinary person.
64,464 in the 1950s
#125
Leslie Leslie is a Scottish place name turned surname turned given name, and it has crossed sexes: about 71 percent of recorded births are female, though the name began firmly male and remains so in Britain.
64,430 in the 1950s
#126
Steve Steve is a boy's name, the short form of Steven or Stephen, meaning crown or garland.
64,417 in the 1950s
#127
Jo Jo is a name serving as the short form of Joanne, Josephine and Joan for women and Joseph for men.
64,223 in the 1950s
#128
Maria Maria is a girl's name of Hebrew origin, the Latin and Greek form of Miryam.
62,808 in the 1950s
#129
Randall Randall is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning shield-wolf.
62,669 in the 1950s
#130
Ruth Ruth is a girl's name of Hebrew origin usually given as "companion" or "friend," though the derivation is not secure.
62,668 in the 1950s
#131
Henry Henry is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "home ruler," from heim, meaning home or estate, and ric, meaning ruler or power.
62,591 in the 1950s
#132
Russell Russell is a boy's name from a Norman nickname meaning little red, given to someone red-haired or ruddy.
62,589 in the 1950s
#133
Jack Jack is a boy's name of English origin that began as a pet form of John, by way of the medieval nickname Jankin.
62,535 in the 1950s
#134
Harold Harold is a boy's name from Norse and Old English elements meaning army ruler, and it belongs to the last Anglo-Saxon king of England, killed at Hastings in 1066.
62,406 in the 1950s
#135
Roy Roy is a boy's name with two independent sources — the Gaelic ruadh, meaning red-haired, and the French roi, meaning king.
62,182 in the 1950s
#136
Darlene Darlene is a girl's name built from the English word darling, and it is one of a small group of American twentieth-century coinages that used the -ene ending.
62,024 in the 1950s
#137
Andrew Andrew is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "manly" or "brave," from andreios, from aner, a man.
61,181 in the 1950s
#138
Philip Philip is a boy's name from Greek elements meaning lover of horses.
60,952 in the 1950s
#139
Ralph Ralph is a boy's name of Norse origin meaning "wolf counsel."
60,625 in the 1950s
#140
Jacqueline Jacqueline is a girl's name, the French feminine of Jacques, and it inherits the meaning supplanter from Jacob.
60,589 in the 1950s
#141
Rita Rita is a girl's name meaning pearl, clipped from the end of Margarita rather than the front.
60,390 in the 1950s
#142
Rhonda Rhonda is a girl's name from a Welsh river valley, and the great spear reading usually given for it is wrong — the Rhondda is named for its own noisiness, not for a weapon.
59,940 in the 1950s
#143
Billy Billy is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "resolute protector."
59,760 in the 1950s
#144
Glenn Glenn is a boy's name from the Gaelic word for a narrow valley, and like Craig and Dale it is a plain landscape noun.
58,996 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.