Top Baby Names in Colorado, 1950s — Most Popular Boys & Girls Names

The most popular baby names in Colorado from 1950 to 1959, ranked by total births during the decade.

What the Data Says About the 1950s in Colorado

During the 1950s (1950–1959), the Social Security Administration recorded 220,325 births across the top 50 boy and top 50 girl names in Colorado. The decade's leading boy name was Michael with 8,594 births, while Linda was the top girl name with 5,602 births. The top 50 boys in this decade collectively accounted for 128,497 births versus 91,828 for the top 50 girls — a common SSA pattern in which the boy-name pool is more concentrated among fewer high-frequency choices. These totals represent only names appearing five or more times per year in Colorado; rarer names fall below the SSA's privacy-disclosure threshold and are excluded.

The 1950s sits within a specific cultural window of U.S. naming history. Mid-century decades like the 1950s spanned the post-war baby boom and the beginning of naming diversification, as parents increasingly departed from purely traditional choices. Michael and Linda leading Colorado during this window reflects how regional preferences interact with broader national trends.

Decade totals are computed by summing SSA state-year records for Colorado across all ten years of the 1950s. Because the SSA suppresses any name with fewer than five annual occurrences in a state, the true number of unique names given in Colorado during this decade is larger than what this page lists. The dataset also treats every spelling as a separate name — for example, Kayla and Kaylah are tracked independently — so combined-spelling totals would shift the rankings somewhat. This page is provided for informational and research purposes and does not constitute naming, legal, or genealogical advice.

Boy Top 50 Boy Names

Rank Name Births
1 Michael 8,594
2 David 8,290
3 Robert 7,983
4 John 7,467
5 James 7,042
6 Richard 5,828
7 William 4,786
8 Mark 4,483
9 Steven 4,090
10 Thomas 3,861
11 Gary 3,721
12 Ronald 3,104
13 Daniel 2,985
14 Charles 2,977
15 Donald 2,849
16 Kenneth 2,679
17 Joseph 2,435
18 Larry 2,433
19 Paul 2,318
20 Timothy 2,216
21 Stephen 2,101
22 Douglas 2,033
23 Gregory 1,906
24 Dennis 1,852
25 Edward 1,643
26 Randy 1,601
27 Anthony 1,522
28 Scott 1,481
29 Kevin 1,463
30 Terry 1,442
31 Jerry 1,441
32 George 1,437
33 Bruce 1,327
34 Patrick 1,321
35 Jeffrey 1,294
36 Frank 1,275
37 Raymond 1,162
38 Gerald 1,055
39 Dale 1,019
40 Roger 1,007
41 Brian 989
42 Steve 936
43 Lawrence 913
44 Alan 903
45 Christopher 899
46 Mike 895
47 Joe 890
48 Danny 887
49 Rodney 857
50 Keith 805

Girl Top 50 Girl Names

Rank Name Births
1 Linda 5,602
2 Mary 5,265
3 Debra 4,302
4 Susan 4,108
5 Patricia 4,004
6 Deborah 3,416
7 Karen 3,387
8 Cynthia 3,068
9 Barbara 2,998
10 Sandra 2,526
11 Nancy 2,524
12 Sharon 2,416
13 Kathleen 2,416
14 Pamela 2,396
15 Carol 2,312
16 Donna 2,162
17 Cheryl 1,872
18 Janet 1,823
19 Diane 1,662
20 Kathy 1,470
21 Elizabeth 1,456
22 Rebecca 1,379
23 Margaret 1,365
24 Christine 1,324
25 Diana 1,271
26 Judy 1,270
27 Connie 1,223
28 Julie 1,211
29 Cindy 1,210
30 Catherine 1,140
31 Judith 1,137
32 Debbie 1,128
33 Theresa 1,106
34 Teresa 1,050
35 Peggy 1,044
36 Janice 1,032
37 Laura 1,012
38 Shirley 997
39 Brenda 977
40 Paula 962
41 Beverly 920
42 Kathryn 913
43 Katherine 913
44 Vicki 893
45 Gloria 888
46 Lisa 880
47 Marilyn 863
48 Joyce 857
49 Carolyn 852
50 Denise 826

Nearby Rankings

Related decade and state views for Colorado

Compare 1950s leaders: Michael vs Linda → or pick any two names →

Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names — State-Level Files, 1910–2024 (ssa.gov).

Source: SSA Baby Names Methodology — names with 5 or more occurrences per state per year are included (ssa.gov/oact/babynames/limits.html).

Data sourced from official U.S. government datasets. See our methodology for details.