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

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

What the Data Says About the 1950s in Maine

During the 1950s (1950–1959), the Social Security Administration recorded 130,773 births across the top 50 boy and top 50 girl names in Maine. The decade's leading boy name was Michael with 5,261 births, while Linda was the top girl name with 3,321 births. The top 50 boys in this decade collectively accounted for 75,259 births versus 55,514 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 Maine; 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 Maine during this window reflects how regional preferences interact with broader national trends.

Decade totals are computed by summing SSA state-year records for Maine 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 Maine 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 5,261
2 David 4,960
3 Robert 4,544
4 John 3,825
5 Richard 3,817
6 James 3,387
7 William 2,448
8 Stephen 2,364
9 Mark 2,323
10 Paul 2,149
11 Thomas 1,993
12 Daniel 1,965
13 Gary 1,938
14 Donald 1,812
15 Steven 1,766
16 Ronald 1,595
17 Peter 1,592
18 Timothy 1,498
19 Jeffrey 1,449
20 Bruce 1,396
21 Charles 1,351
22 Kenneth 1,236
23 Joseph 1,182
24 Brian 1,140
25 Dennis 1,070
26 Scott 1,049
27 George 1,008
28 Roger 991
29 Gregory 971
30 Wayne 965
31 Kevin 925
32 Raymond 886
33 Edward 872
34 Douglas 775
35 Larry 735
36 Alan 718
37 Philip 694
38 Dana 686
39 Dale 657
40 Lawrence 651
41 Gerald 545
42 Frank 488
43 Christopher 480
44 Arthur 468
45 Randy 453
46 Patrick 444
47 Rodney 438
48 Norman 435
49 Keith 432
50 Carl 432

Girl Top 50 Girl Names

Rank Name Births
1 Linda 3,321
2 Susan 3,233
3 Deborah 2,564
4 Mary 2,401
5 Patricia 2,084
6 Nancy 1,995
7 Debra 1,931
8 Diane 1,790
9 Donna 1,781
10 Karen 1,741
11 Pamela 1,619
12 Cynthia 1,578
13 Brenda 1,577
14 Barbara 1,528
15 Sandra 1,421
16 Carol 1,292
17 Sharon 1,265
18 Kathleen 1,229
19 Cheryl 1,164
20 Elizabeth 955
21 Judith 904
22 Gail 862
23 Jane 846
24 Kathy 833
25 Margaret 809
26 Catherine 808
27 Ann 745
28 Janice 701
29 Bonnie 700
30 Janet 696
31 Paula 693
32 Rebecca 689
33 Joyce 623
34 Julie 609
35 Cindy 608
36 Denise 607
37 Elaine 599
38 Joan 584
39 Jean 562
40 Theresa 541
41 Cathy 540
42 Christine 534
43 Darlene 520
44 Anne 511
45 Katherine 507
46 Judy 498
47 Sheila 487
48 Joanne 480
49 Marie 475
50 Vicki 474

Nearby Rankings

Related decade and state views for Maine

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.