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

#145
Phyllis Phyllis is a girl's name from the Greek for foliage, borne by a mythological princess who was turned into an almond tree.
57,882 in the 1950s
#146
Helen Helen is a girl's name from Greek whose meaning is not settled, though torch and shining are the usual readings.
57,749 in the 1950s
#147
Stanley Stanley is a boy's name of Old English origin meaning "stony clearing."
57,366 in the 1950s
#148
Vickie Vickie is an American name that now charts only in France — it peaked at 6,957 US births in 1956 and has left the American rankings entirely, surviving at 6405th in a market it was never native to.
57,040 in the 1950s
#149
Lori Lori is a girl's name, a short form of Laura meaning laurel.
56,168 in the 1950s
#150
Ellen Ellen is a girl's name of Greek origin, a medieval English form of Helen whose meaning has never been settled.
55,507 in the 1950s
#151
Jimmy Jimmy is a boy's name, the pet form of James, meaning supplanter.
55,237 in the 1950s
#152
Barry Barry is a boy's name from an Irish surname generally traced to a word for a spear, though a Welsh island gives a competing route.
55,008 in the 1950s
#153
Rodney Rodney is a boy's name from an English place name, and its rise as a given name follows a single admiral — George Rodney, who broke the French line at the Saintes in 1782.
54,964 in the 1950s
#154
Bobby Bobby is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "bright fame."
54,499 in the 1950s
#155
Elaine Elaine is a girl's name, the Old French form of Helen, whose meaning was never established.
54,320 in the 1950s
#156
Samuel Samuel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin usually translated as "God has heard," from Shemu'el.
53,985 in the 1950s
#157
Joanne Joanne is a girl's name meaning God is gracious, one of the many feminines of John.
53,639 in the 1950s
#158
Eric Eric is a boy's name of Old Norse origin meaning "eternal ruler" or "sole ruler."
53,444 in the 1950s
#159
Albert Albert is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "noble and bright."
53,083 in the 1950s
#160
Ronnie Ronnie is a name of Old Norse origin meaning "ruler's counsel."
52,878 in the 1950s
#161
Phillip Phillip is a boy's name meaning lover of horses, the doubled-l spelling of Philip.
52,645 in the 1950s
#162
Anne Anne is a girl's name from the Hebrew Hannah, meaning favor or grace.
52,498 in the 1950s
#163
Valerie Valerie is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "strong" or "healthy," from the verb valere, meaning to be strong or to be well.
52,346 in the 1950s
#164
Alice Alice is a girl's name of Germanic origin meaning "noble," arrived at by a long contraction of Adelaide.
52,230 in the 1950s
#165
Frances Frances is a girl's name meaning a Frank, or a free one, and the feminine of Francis.
51,604 in the 1950s
#166
Martin Martin is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "of Mars," borne by Saint Martin of Tours, whose cloak gave Europe the word chapel.
51,137 in the 1950s
#167
Suzanne Suzanne is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "lily," from shoshannah.
50,414 in the 1950s
#168
Kimberly Kimberly is a girl's name that reached America by way of a South African diamond town, which was itself named after a British colonial secretary.
50,196 in the 1950s
#169
Lee Lee is a name from the Old English word for a woodland clearing, and it is one of the most productive elements in English place names — the ending of Ashley, Bradley, Shirley and Beverly.
49,687 in the 1950s
#170
Marie Marie is a girl's name of Hebrew origin, the French form of Mary, and the largest name in our entire dataset with more than 2.8 million births on record.
49,416 in the 1950s
#171
Victoria Victoria is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "victory."
49,218 in the 1950s
#172
Eugene Eugene is a boy's name from the Greek for well-born, and it is the source of the word eugenics — a connection worth knowing, since the name long predates and has nothing to do with that movement.
48,479 in the 1950s
#173
Mike Mike is a boy's name, the short form of Michael, from a Hebrew question meaning who is like God.
48,475 in the 1950s
#174
Louis Louis is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "famous warrior."
48,187 in the 1950s
#175
Howard Howard is a boy's name whose origin is genuinely contested — high guardian, brave heart and even a keeper of pigs have all been proposed.
48,009 in the 1950s
#176
Anita Anita is a girl's name, the Spanish diminutive of Ana, meaning grace.
47,698 in the 1950s
#177
Allen Allen is a boy's name whose meaning is genuinely unknown — rock, handsome and deer have all been proposed from an unidentified Breton source.
47,528 in the 1950s
#178
Laurie Laurie is a name meaning laurel, and it is genuinely mixed by country — masculine in Britain as a short form of Laurence, feminine in America as a short form of Laura.
47,249 in the 1950s
#179
Michelle Michelle is a girl's name, the French feminine of Michel, from a Hebrew question meaning who is like God.
46,896 in the 1950s
#180
Sally Sally is a girl's name meaning princess, a pet form of Sarah reached by medieval rhyming.
46,805 in the 1950s
#181
Curtis Curtis is a boy's name from a Norman French nickname meaning courteous, and it is one of very few names that describes manners rather than birth, appearance or trade.
46,651 in the 1950s
#182
Terri Terri shortens Teresa, whose meaning has never been established — harvester, summer and a Greek island are all proposed and none of them is settled.
46,604 in the 1950s
#183
Jeffery Jeffery is a boy's name whose first element is genuinely disputed, though the second means peace.
46,087 in the 1950s
#184
Frederick Frederick is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "peaceful ruler."
44,449 in the 1950s
#185
Marcia Marcia means dedicated to Mars, and that god's name is also where the month of March comes from — the Roman year began in March, because that was when the campaigning season opened up again after the winter.
43,801 in the 1950s
#186
Leonard Leonard is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "lion-strong," and its saint is the patron of prisoners and of women in labor.
43,730 in the 1950s
#187
Harry Harry is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "home ruler."
43,489 in the 1950s
#188
Jennifer Jennifer is a girl's name, the Cornish form of the Welsh Gwenhwyfar, the name of King Arthur's queen.
43,159 in the 1950s
#189
Doris Doris is a girl's name from Greek mythology, where she is a sea nymph and the mother of the fifty Nereids.
43,109 in the 1950s
#190
Maureen Maureen is the Irish Máirín, a diminutive of Máire, which is itself the Irish form of Mary.
42,901 in the 1950s
#191
Wendy Wendy is usually credited to J.
42,786 in the 1950s
#192
Michele Michele is a girl's name, the single-l spelling of Michelle, from a Hebrew question meaning who is like God.
42,232 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.