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

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

What the Data Says About the 1950s in Nevada

During the 1950s (1950–1959), the Social Security Administration recorded 28,306 births across the top 50 boy and top 50 girl names in Nevada. The decade's leading boy name was Michael with 1,278 births, while Linda was the top girl name with 693 births. The top 50 boys in this decade collectively accounted for 16,919 births versus 11,387 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 Nevada; 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 Nevada during this window reflects how regional preferences interact with broader national trends.

Decade totals are computed by summing SSA state-year records for Nevada 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 Nevada 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 1,278
2 Robert 1,164
3 David 1,064
4 John 1,042
5 James 935
6 William 739
7 Richard 724
8 Mark 576
9 Steven 542
10 Thomas 480
11 Gary 464
12 Charles 410
13 Ronald 374
14 Donald 368
15 Kenneth 367
16 Daniel 328
17 Joseph 300
18 Dennis 298
19 Paul 280
20 Larry 260
21 Stephen 260
22 Gregory 240
23 Kevin 224
24 Edward 224
25 Timothy 221
26 George 212
27 Jeffrey 209
28 Douglas 208
29 Bruce 190
30 Terry 186
31 Scott 184
32 Craig 174
33 Raymond 169
34 Patrick 167
35 Jerry 163
36 Frank 163
37 Randy 161
38 Anthony 150
39 Alan 146
40 Mike 134
41 Steve 129
42 Brian 119
43 Roger 117
44 Gerald 116
45 Lawrence 114
46 Wayne 112
47 Christopher 110
48 Danny 109
49 Dale 109
50 Jack 106

Girl Top 50 Girl Names

Rank Name Births
1 Linda 693
2 Debra 608
3 Mary 570
4 Susan 541
5 Patricia 482
6 Deborah 432
7 Karen 416
8 Barbara 329
9 Kathleen 316
10 Sandra 296
11 Pamela 296
12 Cynthia 287
13 Nancy 287
14 Donna 278
15 Carol 257
16 Sharon 254
17 Cheryl 232
18 Diane 216
19 Janet 213
20 Kathy 202
21 Julie 194
22 Teresa 193
23 Brenda 185
24 Denise 175
25 Elizabeth 174
26 Cindy 173
27 Lisa 171
28 Janice 154
29 Judy 152
30 Laura 152
31 Debbie 147
32 Diana 147
33 Margaret 139
34 Kathryn 134
35 Catherine 133
36 Vicki 129
37 Katherine 129
38 Rebecca 127
39 Christine 124
40 Kim 119
41 Terry 119
42 Paula 116
43 Connie 116
44 Theresa 115
45 Carolyn 113
46 Leslie 112
47 Bonnie 112
48 Valerie 110
49 Lori 109
50 Peggy 109

Nearby Rankings

Related decade and state views for Nevada

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.