Most Popular Baby Names of the 1950s

The top U.S. baby names across the 1950s (1950–1959), totaled over the whole decade. The decade's #1 names were Mary for girls and James for boys.

Girls — Top 50

#	Name	Babies
1	Mary	625,609
2	Linda	564,363
3	Patricia	459,686
4	Susan	437,773
5	Deborah	430,541
6	Barbara	345,723
7	Debra	341,347
8	Karen	332,533
9	Nancy	286,812
10	Donna	270,333
11	Cynthia	263,429
12	Sandra	251,594
13	Pamela	237,395
14	Sharon	232,809
15	Kathleen	224,341
16	Carol	222,654
17	Diane	210,627
18	Brenda	209,243
19	Cheryl	171,390
20	Janet	167,519
21	Elizabeth	165,658
22	Kathy	157,930
23	Margaret	149,583
24	Janice	133,619
25	Carolyn	124,067
26	Denise	123,783
27	Judy	118,061
28	Rebecca	115,691
29	Joyce	114,983
30	Teresa	114,284
31	Christine	113,340
32	Catherine	108,837
33	Shirley	108,807
34	Judith	108,756
35	Betty	103,204
36	Beverly	97,789
37	Lisa	95,823
38	Laura	95,527
39	Theresa	89,605
40	Connie	88,800
41	Ann	87,046
42	Gloria	86,706
43	Julie	86,689
44	Gail	85,619
45	Joan	85,179
46	Paula	84,869
47	Peggy	84,294
48	Cindy	83,980
49	Martha	83,189
50	Bonnie	83,011

Boys — Top 50

#	Name	Babies
1	James	843,776
2	Michael	837,466
3	Robert	830,391
4	John	797,917
5	David	769,951
6	William	591,226
7	Richard	535,453
8	Thomas	454,385
9	Mark	382,585
10	Charles	361,178
11	Steven	333,657
12	Gary	329,935
13	Joseph	300,006
14	Donald	273,576
15	Ronald	271,146
16	Kenneth	262,822
17	Paul	253,191
18	Larry	245,690
19	Daniel	243,725
20	Stephen	207,276
21	Dennis	204,267
22	Timothy	198,322
23	Edward	188,328
24	Jeffrey	184,663
25	George	181,029
26	Gregory	178,453
27	Kevin	159,010
28	Douglas	148,204
29	Terry	140,724
30	Anthony	136,652
31	Jerry	136,571
32	Bruce	136,459
33	Randy	120,534
34	Brian	112,336
35	Frank	112,321
36	Scott	111,821
37	Roger	110,156
38	Raymond	108,932
39	Peter	102,754
40	Patrick	96,856
41	Keith	91,236
42	Lawrence	91,109
43	Wayne	88,092
44	Danny	86,640
45	Alan	83,977
46	Gerald	82,625
47	Ricky	79,169
48	Carl	78,754
49	Christopher	78,334
50	Dale	75,567