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Most popular baby names of the 1950s

In the 1950s, the most popular name for girls born in the U.S. was Mary, given to 625,606 girls, about 1 in 31 girls born that decade. For boys it was James, given to 843,768, about 1 in 24 boys.

Together, the top 20 girls’ names went to 33% of girls born in the 1950s, and the top 20 boys’ names to 45% of boys.

Top girls’ names

Top girls’ names of the 1950s
RankNameBabiesShare
#1Mary625,6061 in 31
#2Linda564,3641 in 34
#3Patricia459,6811 in 42
#4Susan437,7741 in 44
#5Deborah430,5371 in 45
#6Barbara345,7221 in 56
#7Debra341,3481 in 56
#8Karen332,5311 in 58
#9Nancy286,8121 in 67
#10Donna270,3381 in 71
#11Cynthia263,4321 in 73
#12Sandra251,5911 in 76
#13Pamela237,3981 in 81
#14Sharon232,8071 in 83
#15Kathleen224,3421 in 86
#16Carol222,6561 in 86
#17Diane210,6241 in 91
#18Brenda209,2411 in 92
#19Cheryl171,3871 in 110
#20Janet167,5201 in 110

Top boys’ names

Top boys’ names of the 1950s
RankNameBabiesShare
#1James843,7681 in 24
#2Michael837,4711 in 24
#3Robert830,3951 in 24
#4John797,9221 in 25
#5David769,9631 in 26
#6William591,2281 in 34
#7Richard535,4611 in 38
#8Thomas454,3851 in 44
#9Mark382,5891 in 53
#10Charles361,1771 in 56
#11Steven333,6661 in 61
#12Gary329,9331 in 61
#13Joseph300,0121 in 67
#14Donald273,5741 in 74
#15Ronald271,1391 in 75
#16Kenneth262,8191 in 77
#17Paul253,2021 in 80
#18Larry245,6981 in 82
#19Daniel243,7271 in 83
#20Stephen207,2761 in 98

What changed

8 of the decade’s top 20 girls’ names were not in the top 20 of the 1940s: Deborah, Debra, Cynthia, Pamela, Diane, Brenda, Cheryl and Janet. 4 of the decade’s top 20 boys’ names were not in the top 20 of the 1940s: Mark, Steven, Daniel and Stephen.

Each table ranks names by how many babies of that sex got the name across the decade’s years in Social Security’s data, with the share of all babies of that sex it went to. A name links to its own page when it has one, with its births and rank in every year since 1880.

Source: the U.S. Social Security Administration’s national baby name data, from Social Security card applications for babies born in the U.S. A name is left out of a year when fewer than 5 babies of one sex got it, and counts before about 1937 are incomplete, because many people born then never applied for a card. See how Baby Boom builds its data. Figures may contain errors.