Names by decade · United States

The names of the 1950s

Mary for girls and James for boys: the 30 most-given names of the decade, and the share of babies who got each.

Girls

  1. Mary1 in 31
  2. Linda1 in 34
  3. Patricia1 in 42
  4. Susan1 in 44
  5. Deborah1 in 45
  6. Barbara1 in 56
  7. Debra1 in 56
  8. Karen1 in 58
  9. Nancy1 in 67
  10. Donna1 in 71
  11. Cynthia1 in 73
  12. Sandra1 in 76
  13. Pamela1 in 81
  14. Sharon1 in 83
  15. Kathleen1 in 86
  16. Carol1 in 86
  17. Diane1 in 91
  18. Brenda1 in 92
  19. Cheryl1 in 112
  20. Janet1 in 115
  21. Elizabeth1 in 116
  22. Kathy1 in 122
  23. Margaret1 in 129
  24. Janice1 in 144
  25. Carolyn1 in 155
  26. Denise1 in 155
  27. Judy1 in 163
  28. Rebecca1 in 166
  29. Joyce1 in 167
  30. Teresa1 in 168

Boys

  1. James1 in 24
  2. Michael1 in 24
  3. Robert1 in 24
  4. John1 in 25
  5. David1 in 26
  6. William1 in 34
  7. Richard1 in 38
  8. Thomas1 in 44
  9. Mark1 in 53
  10. Charles1 in 56
  11. Steven1 in 61
  12. Gary1 in 61
  13. Joseph1 in 67
  14. Donald1 in 74
  15. Ronald1 in 75
  16. Kenneth1 in 77
  17. Paul1 in 80
  18. Larry1 in 82
  19. Daniel1 in 83
  20. Stephen1 in 98
  21. Dennis1 in 99
  22. Timothy1 in 102
  23. Edward1 in 107
  24. Jeffrey1 in 109
  25. George1 in 112
  26. Gregory1 in 113
  27. Kevin1 in 127
  28. Douglas1 in 136
  29. Terry1 in 144
  30. Anthony1 in 148

Year by year, the 1950s

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