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

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

What the Data Says About the 1950s in Vermont

During the 1950s (1950–1959), the Social Security Administration recorded 54,990 births across the top 50 boy and top 50 girl names in Vermont. The decade's leading boy name was Michael with 2,224 births, while Mary was the top girl name with 1,483 births. The top 50 boys in this decade collectively accounted for 31,499 births versus 23,491 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 Vermont; 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 Mary leading Vermont during this window reflects how regional preferences interact with broader national trends.

Decade totals are computed by summing SSA state-year records for Vermont 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 Vermont 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 2,224
2 David 2,210
3 Robert 1,850
4 John 1,639
5 James 1,556
6 Richard 1,448
7 William 1,112
8 Gary 1,099
9 Thomas 1,026
10 Mark 949
11 Stephen 834
12 Steven 809
13 Paul 761
14 Timothy 679
15 Peter 656
16 Donald 608
17 Ronald 597
18 Daniel 582
19 Brian 580
20 Charles 562
21 Bruce 547
22 Kevin 523
23 Jeffrey 515
24 Douglas 494
25 Edward 475
26 Joseph 454
27 Dennis 436
28 Kenneth 428
29 George 355
30 Christopher 350
31 Scott 348
32 Gregory 339
33 Raymond 339
34 Wayne 333
35 Larry 326
36 Roger 314
37 Alan 304
38 Patrick 293
39 Lawrence 281
40 Dale 243
41 Craig 228
42 Randy 227
43 Francis 225
44 Norman 200
45 Philip 200
46 Keith 197
47 Gerald 196
48 Arthur 185
49 Terry 183
50 Anthony 180

Girl Top 50 Girl Names

Rank Name Births
1 Mary 1,483
2 Susan 1,442
3 Linda 1,362
4 Deborah 1,100
5 Patricia 954
6 Nancy 796
7 Donna 784
8 Debra 723
9 Diane 720
10 Karen 662
11 Barbara 615
12 Pamela 601
13 Cynthia 595
14 Carol 591
15 Sandra 584
16 Kathleen 581
17 Sharon 515
18 Brenda 486
19 Cheryl 452
20 Elizabeth 406
21 Bonnie 396
22 Judith 395
23 Gail 337
24 Jane 335
25 Ann 322
26 Margaret 320
27 Kathy 307
28 Janet 304
29 Judy 299
30 Joanne 284
31 Jean 283
32 Darlene 271
33 Martha 268
34 Anne 266
35 Paula 257
36 Joan 247
37 Lynn 245
38 Marie 238
39 Cindy 234
40 Theresa 232
41 Denise 231
42 Catherine 231
43 Christine 230
44 Rebecca 225
45 Robin 221
46 Julie 216
47 Lisa 215
48 Sheila 211
49 Joyce 210
50 Laura 209

Nearby Rankings

Related decade and state views for Vermont

Compare 1950s leaders: Michael vs Mary → 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.