Baby names of the 1950s
The most given names of the 1950s were Mary and James. The names most over-represented in those years are Deborah, Kathy, Vicki for girls and Rick, Ricky, Gary for boys, each given at least 3.5 times as often then as across 1880-2025. An estimated 28.4 million Americans born in the U.S. in those years are alive in 2026.
Babies given each name per year; 1950-1959 shaded.
Births 1950-1959: SSA national file, published May 8, 2026; the living figure uses SSA’s cohort life tables. SSA’s notes on the data.
The most given names
| # | Name | Births |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mary | 625,606 |
| 2 | Linda | 564,364 |
| 3 | Patricia | 459,681 |
| 4 | Susan | 437,774 |
| 5 | Deborah | 430,537 |
| 6 | Barbara | 345,722 |
| 7 | Debra | 341,348 |
| 8 | Karen | 332,531 |
| 9 | Nancy | 286,812 |
| 10 | Donna | 270,338 |
| 11 | Cynthia | 263,432 |
| 12 | Sandra | 251,591 |
| 13 | Pamela | 237,398 |
| 14 | Sharon | 232,807 |
| 15 | Kathleen | 224,342 |
| 16 | Carol | 222,656 |
| 17 | Diane | 210,624 |
| 18 | Brenda | 209,241 |
| 19 | Cheryl | 171,387 |
| 20 | Janet | 167,520 |
| 21 | Elizabeth | 165,656 |
| 22 | Kathy | 157,930 |
| 23 | Margaret | 149,582 |
| 24 | Janice | 133,620 |
| 25 | Carolyn | 124,067 |
| # | Name | Births |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | James | 843,768 |
| 2 | Michael | 837,471 |
| 3 | Robert | 830,395 |
| 4 | John | 797,922 |
| 5 | David | 769,963 |
| 6 | William | 591,228 |
| 7 | Richard | 535,461 |
| 8 | Thomas | 454,385 |
| 9 | Mark | 382,589 |
| 10 | Charles | 361,177 |
| 11 | Steven | 333,666 |
| 12 | Gary | 329,933 |
| 13 | Joseph | 300,012 |
| 14 | Donald | 273,574 |
| 15 | Ronald | 271,139 |
| 16 | Kenneth | 262,819 |
| 17 | Paul | 253,202 |
| 18 | Larry | 245,698 |
| 19 | Daniel | 243,727 |
| 20 | Stephen | 207,276 |
| 21 | Dennis | 204,267 |
| 22 | Timothy | 198,324 |
| 23 | Edward | 188,323 |
| 24 | Jeffrey | 184,668 |
| 25 | George | 181,031 |
Most given: births summed over 1950-1959, per sex.
Which names define the 1950s?
A name’s share of births in these years divided by its share across the whole record, for names given to at least 10,000 babies in the span and to one sex at least 90% of the time.
Typical: share in the span over share in 1880-2025.