Most Popular Baby Names Of The 1950s
The top 100 girls’ and boys’ names across 1950–1959. Explore their meanings, histories, and popularity today.
| Save name | Name & meaning | History 1926–2025, yearly counts; individually scaled | Babies 2025 · rank | 5-year rank movement | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jewish woman; woman of Judah | 344#790 | Up 120 rank positions in five years | 1943 | ||
He will add, through Joseph | 230#994 | Down 266 rank positions in five years | 1936 | ||
Will or desire + helmet or protection, through William | 147#1,322 | Down 327 rank positions in five years | 1947 | ||
Spear + power or authority | 168#1,206 | Down 251 rank positions in five years | 1942 | ||
Famous spear | 297#834 | Down 149 rank positions in five years | 1953 | ||
Darling, through Cherie | 32#4,375 | Up 95 rank positions in five years | 1958 | ||
Possibly wood; Scottish estate-name surname | 311#801 | Down 203 rank positions in five years | 1957 | ||
Traditionally supplanter or heel-holder, in the Jacques and Jacob family | 541#558 | Down 115 rank positions in five years | 1964 | ||
Several origins: Terence or Theresa familiar form, or a Thierry surname | 192#1,116 | Down 183 rank positions in five years | 1957 | ||
Home ruler, through Henry; also a familiar form of other Har names | 329#775 | Down 56 rank positions in five years | 1918 | ||
Meaning uncertain; Theresa name family | 291#911 | Down 164 rank positions in five years | 1961 | ||
Glory | 437#655 | Down 77 rank positions in five years | 1947 | ||
Counsel; advice + wolf | 211#1,048 | Up 54 rank positions in five years | 1921 | ||
Red, through Ruadh; also associated with French king | 570#525 | Up 47 rank positions in five years | 1947 | ||
Famous in battle | 1,391#249 | Up 11 rank positions in five years | 1921 | ||
God is gracious, through Jane | 70#2,522 | Down 560 rank positions in five years | 1951 | ||
Meaning uncertain; Teresa name family | 136#1,559 | Down 149 rank positions in five years | 1961 | ||
Probably from Brix, through the Scottish surname | 558#536 | Down 38 rank positions in five years | 1956 | ||
Will + helmet, through William | 203#1,068 | Down 69 rank positions in five years | 1934 | ||
Jewish woman; woman from Judea, through Judith | 105#1,874 | Down 291 rank positions in five years | 1947 | ||
Well born | 249#943 | Down 103 rank positions in five years | 1927 | ||
God is gracious | 1,380#221 | Up 43 rank positions in five years | 1947 | ||
Beaver clearing or beaver stream, through Beverley | 246#1,018 | Up 249 rank positions in five years | 1953 | ||
Combination of Mary and the name ending -lyn | 356#761 | Down 127 rank positions in five years | 1947 | ||
Belonging to Dionysus, through Denis | 123#1,677 | Down 800 rank positions in five years | 1961 | ||
Divine; goddesslike | 1,277#244 | Up 1 rank positions in five years | 1957 | ||
Breton name of uncertain meaning; also a Kurdish tribal name | 1,915#191 | Up 3 rank positions in five years | 1955 | ||
To conquer; conquering | 3,267#107 | Up 14 rank positions in five years | 1962 | ||
Little red one | 944#345 | Up 25 rank positions in five years | 1960 | ||
Wagon maker | 422#655 | Up 120 rank positions in five years | 1947 | ||
Several surname origins: Hughard, Hávarðr, or ewe herder | 226#1,004 | Up 40 rank positions in five years | 1921 | ||
Friend of horses | 568#528 | Down 75 rank positions in five years | 1953 | ||
Peaceful ruler in the Frederick family; elf counsel in the Alfred family | 80#1,936 | Down 134 rank positions in five years | 1924 | ||
Laurel, through Laura; also a familiar form of Lorraine | 118#1,726 | Down 54 rank positions in five years | 1963 | ||
Traditionally pure, through Katherine; deeper origin disputed | 48#3,274 | Down 1,091 rank positions in five years | 1958 | ||
Shield and wolf in the Randolf family; admirable through Miranda | 198#1,089 | Down 230 rank positions in five years | 1956 | ||
Fine, beautiful | 785#396 | Up 210 rank positions in five years | 1947 | ||
Grace in the Anna family; eagle in the Frisian masculine name | 472#619 | Up 7 rank positions in five years | 1959 | ||
Foliage | 7#12,869 | Down 6,846 rank positions in five years | 1947 | ||
Yahweh is gracious, through John | 682#458 | Down 70 rank positions in five years | 1947 | ||
Of Mars | 1,009#335 | Down 42 rank positions in five years | 1963 | ||
Bright fame, through Robert | 195#1,097 | Down 247 rank positions in five years | 1937 | ||
Friend of horses, through Philip | 425#651 | Down 132 rank positions in five years | 1960 | ||
Serious, earnest; older Germanic vigor or strife | 213#1,040 | Down 31 rank positions in five years | 1921 | ||
Stone clearing | 278#863 | Down 128 rank positions in five years | 1954 | ||
Crag, rocks, outcrop | 102#1,644 | Down 399 rank positions in five years | 1960 | ||
Brave lion | 438#637 | Down 2 rank positions in five years | 1921 | ||
Pearl, through Margaret | 12#8,738 | Down 2,718 rank positions in five years | 1958 | ||
Bright fame, through Robert; also associated with the bird | 400#704 | Up 197 rank positions in five years | 1961 | ||
Traditionally supplanter, through James | 291#847 | Down 120 rank positions in five years | 1947 |
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Year by year in the 1950s
This list includes the top 100 girls’ and boys’ names by total use across 1950–1959. Table birth counts and ranks show 2025, and rank movement covers the latest five years. Search, filters, and sorting stay within this decade’s name list.
Counts are based on U.S. births and are tracked separately for girls and boys. Names used fewer than 5 times in a year aren’t published for that year, so totals here are a floor — the shortfall is largest in the sparse early years.