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.
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#256Clarence Clarence is a boy's name taken from an English dukedom, itself named for a Suffolk town.29,669 in the 1950s
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#258Bradley Bradley is a boy's name from an English place name meaning broad meadow.29,562 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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#272Bernard Bernard is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning brave as a bear.25,992 in the 1950s
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#273Jonathan Jonathan is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "Yahweh has given," from Yehonatan.25,869 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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#283Leroy Leroy is a boy's name that is simply the French for the king, taken as one word.24,774 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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#287Herbert Herbert is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning bright army.24,407 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 The statistics offices do not publish names given to very few children in a year, so a gap can also mean the count dropped below the threshold rather than to nothing.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.