Top Baby Names of the 1950s
In the 1950s, Mary was the most popular name for babies recorded as girls (625,606 babies) and James for babies recorded as boys (843,768).
Recorded as girls
| Rank | Name | Babies in the 1950s |
| 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 |
| 26 | Denise | 123,783 |
| 27 | Judy | 118,060 |
| 28 | Rebecca | 115,690 |
| 29 | Joyce | 114,984 |
| 30 | Teresa | 114,283 |
| 31 | Christine | 113,340 |
| 32 | Catherine | 108,839 |
| 33 | Shirley | 108,807 |
| 34 | Judith | 108,758 |
| 35 | Betty | 103,204 |
| 36 | Beverly | 97,790 |
| 37 | Lisa | 95,824 |
| 38 | Laura | 95,526 |
| 39 | Theresa | 89,608 |
| 40 | Connie | 88,799 |
| 41 | Ann | 87,047 |
| 42 | Gloria | 86,705 |
| 43 | Julie | 86,689 |
| 44 | Gail | 85,618 |
| 45 | Joan | 85,179 |
| 46 | Paula | 84,869 |
| 47 | Peggy | 84,293 |
| 48 | Cindy | 83,979 |
| 49 | Martha | 83,190 |
| 50 | Bonnie | 83,013 |
| 51 | Jane | 82,919 |
| 52 | Cathy | 82,719 |
| 53 | Robin | 82,423 |
| 54 | Debbie | 82,097 |
| 55 | Diana | 80,234 |
| 56 | Marilyn | 80,161 |
| 57 | Kathryn | 77,803 |
| 58 | Dorothy | 74,475 |
| 59 | Wanda | 72,448 |
| 60 | Jean | 72,263 |
| 61 | Vicki | 71,980 |
| 62 | Sheila | 70,174 |
| 63 | Virginia | 69,783 |
| 64 | Sherry | 68,322 |
| 65 | Katherine | 66,855 |
| 66 | Rose | 66,688 |
| 67 | Lynn | 66,049 |
| 68 | Jo | 63,939 |
| 69 | Ruth | 62,538 |
| 70 | Maria | 62,458 |
| 71 | Darlene | 61,886 |
| 72 | Jacqueline | 60,459 |
| 73 | Rita | 60,265 |
| 74 | Rhonda | 59,816 |
| 75 | Phyllis | 57,764 |
| 76 | Helen | 57,580 |
| 77 | Vickie | 56,857 |
| 78 | Kim | 56,080 |
| 79 | Lori | 56,070 |
| 80 | Ellen | 55,392 |
| 81 | Elaine | 54,232 |
| 82 | Joanne | 53,568 |
| 83 | Anne | 52,404 |
| 84 | Valerie | 52,230 |
| 85 | Alice | 52,074 |
| 86 | Frances | 51,200 |
| 87 | Suzanne | 50,330 |
| 88 | Marie | 49,263 |
| 89 | Victoria | 49,127 |
| 90 | Kimberly | 48,958 |
| 91 | Anita | 47,588 |
| 92 | Laurie | 46,964 |
| 93 | Michelle | 46,779 |
| 94 | Sally | 46,706 |
| 95 | Terri | 46,431 |
| 96 | Marcia | 43,733 |
| 97 | Terry | 43,194 |
| 98 | Jennifer | 43,075 |
| 99 | Leslie | 43,049 |
| 100 | Doris | 42,898 |
Recorded as boys
| Rank | Name | Babies in the 1950s |
| 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 |
| 26 | Gregory | 178,457 |
| 27 | Kevin | 159,010 |
| 28 | Douglas | 148,205 |
| 29 | Terry | 140,724 |
| 30 | Anthony | 136,647 |
| 31 | Jerry | 136,567 |
| 32 | Bruce | 136,457 |
| 33 | Randy | 120,537 |
| 34 | Brian | 112,336 |
| 35 | Frank | 112,321 |
| 36 | Scott | 111,819 |
| 37 | Roger | 110,158 |
| 38 | Raymond | 108,928 |
| 39 | Peter | 102,747 |
| 40 | Patrick | 96,851 |
| 41 | Keith | 91,235 |
| 42 | Lawrence | 91,110 |
| 43 | Wayne | 88,092 |
| 44 | Danny | 86,640 |
| 45 | Alan | 83,976 |
| 46 | Gerald | 82,626 |
| 47 | Ricky | 79,170 |
| 48 | Carl | 78,752 |
| 49 | Christopher | 78,333 |
| 50 | Dale | 75,567 |
| 51 | Walter | 72,197 |
| 52 | Craig | 69,481 |
| 53 | Willie | 66,460 |
| 54 | Johnny | 65,786 |
| 55 | Arthur | 65,716 |
| 56 | Steve | 64,212 |
| 57 | Joe | 62,620 |
| 58 | Randall | 62,450 |
| 59 | Russell | 62,406 |
| 60 | Jack | 62,387 |
| 61 | Henry | 62,230 |
| 62 | Harold | 62,183 |
| 63 | Roy | 61,847 |
| 64 | Andrew | 60,972 |
| 65 | Philip | 60,853 |
| 66 | Ralph | 60,440 |
| 67 | Billy | 59,277 |
| 68 | Glenn | 58,714 |
| 69 | Stanley | 57,164 |
| 70 | Jimmy | 54,892 |
| 71 | Rodney | 54,817 |
| 72 | Barry | 54,812 |
| 73 | Samuel | 53,767 |
| 74 | Eric | 53,295 |
| 75 | Bobby | 53,281 |
| 76 | Albert | 52,829 |
| 77 | Phillip | 52,457 |
| 78 | Ronnie | 51,302 |
| 79 | Martin | 50,994 |
| 80 | Mike | 48,345 |
| 81 | Eugene | 48,281 |
| 82 | Louis | 47,933 |
| 83 | Howard | 47,852 |
| 84 | Allen | 47,322 |
| 85 | Curtis | 46,324 |
| 86 | Jeffery | 45,879 |
| 87 | Frederick | 44,288 |
| 88 | Leonard | 43,551 |
| 89 | Harry | 43,335 |
| 90 | Micheal | 40,908 |
| 91 | Tony | 40,782 |
| 92 | Ernest | 39,680 |
| 93 | Eddie | 38,598 |
| 94 | Fred | 37,445 |
| 95 | Darrell | 37,257 |
| 96 | Jay | 36,969 |
| 97 | Melvin | 36,165 |
| 98 | Lee | 35,826 |
| 99 | Matthew | 35,796 |
| 100 | Vincent | 35,351 |