Most Popular Baby Names of 1950

In 1950, Linda was the most popular name for girls, given to 80,433 babies, and James topped the boys' list with 86,228. Linda held on to number one for a fourth year in a row, and James held on to number one for a 11th year in a row.

Social Security counted 1,713,054 girls and 1,790,262 boys born in 1950 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 6,109 different girls' names and 4,196 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1950

Top girls' names, 1950
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1949
1	Linda	80,433	same
2	Mary	65,481	same
3	Patricia	47,944	same
4	Barbara	41,556	same
5	Susan	38,017	same
6	Nancy	29,617	up 1
7	Deborah	29,063	up 8
8	Sandra	28,896	down 2
9	Carol	26,163	down 1
10	Kathleen	25,706	down 1
11	Sharon	24,612	down 1
12	Karen	24,132	down 1
13	Donna	21,629	down 1
14	Brenda	20,799	down 1
15	Margaret	18,110	down 1
16	Diane	17,636	up 3
17	Pamela	16,202	up 4
18	Janet	16,193	up 5
19	Shirley	15,891	down 1
20	Carolyn	15,588	down 3
21	Judith	15,352	down 5
22	Janice	15,012	up 2
23	Cynthia	14,447	up 4
24	Elizabeth	14,334	up 1
25	Judy	14,207	down 5
26	Betty	13,615	down 4
27	Joyce	13,415	down 1
28	Christine	12,673	up 2
29	Cheryl	11,823	down 1
30	Gloria	11,037	down 1
31	Beverly	10,503	same
32	Martha	9,839	up 2
33	Bonnie	9,746	up 2
34	Catherine	9,655	up 3
35	Dorothy	9,551	down 3
36	Rebecca	9,425	up 4
37	Marilyn	9,285	down 4
38	Kathy	9,090	up 4
39	Jane	8,964	up 2
40	Joan	8,860	down 4
41	Peggy	8,532	down 3
42	Gail	8,350	up 9
43	Virginia	8,312	down 4
44	Connie	8,145	down 1
45	Ann	7,921	down 1
46	Kathryn	7,863	up 6
47	Diana	7,447	up 1
48	Jean	7,432	down 3
49	Ruth	7,128	down 2
50	Helen	7,061	down 4
51	Frances	6,975	down 2
52	Wanda	6,929	up 4
53	Phyllis	6,695	down 3
54	Paula	6,631	up 1
55	Jacqueline	6,455	up 3
56	Rita	6,424	down 2
57	Alice	6,363	down 4
58	Katherine	6,205	up 1
59	Debra	6,176	up 75
60	Elaine	6,037	down 3
61	Vicki	5,823	up 9
62	Sherry	5,808	up 6
63	Laura	5,725	up 2
64	Jo	5,676	down 4
65	Theresa	5,628	down 2
66	Ellen	5,567	down 2
67	Joanne	5,491	down 6
68	Marsha	5,400	up 11
69	Rose	5,376	down 3
70	Sheila	5,322	up 6
71	Suzanne	5,266	down 9
72	Marie	5,222	down 5
73	Maria	5,076	down 1
74	Doris	5,053	down 5
75	Cathy	5,031	up 6
76	Lynn	5,020	down 2
77	Marcia	4,955	up 1
78	Sally	4,870	down 1
79	Darlene	4,830	down 4
80	Charlotte	4,735	down 9
81	Teresa	4,724	up 1
82	Denise	4,514	up 58
83	Lois	4,504	down 10
84	Anne	4,459	up 2
85	Constance	4,441	down 2
86	Evelyn	4,275	down 6
87	Glenda	4,215	same
88	Sarah	4,143	down 4
89	Maureen	4,070	same
90	Dianne	3,921	down 5
91	Eileen	3,883	up 4
92	Irene	3,825	up 19
93	Anna	3,815	down 2
94	Victoria	3,781	up 2
95	Jeanne	3,736	down 3
96	Roberta	3,630	up 1
97	Sylvia	3,612	down 3
98	Joann	3,600	up 3
99	Anita	3,572	same
100	Sue	3,503	down 12

Top boys' names, 1950
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1949
1	James	86,228	same
2	Robert	83,553	same
3	John	79,412	same
4	Michael	65,136	up 1
5	David	60,729	up 1
6	William	60,680	down 2
7	Richard	51,003	same
8	Thomas	45,596	same
9	Charles	39,095	same
10	Gary	33,737	up 2
11	Larry	31,480	down 1
12	Ronald	29,908	down 1
13	Joseph	27,022	up 1
14	Donald	26,999	down 1
15	Kenneth	23,813	same
16	Steven	23,250	up 4
17	Dennis	22,862	down 1
18	Paul	21,742	down 1
19	Stephen	20,511	same
20	George	20,183	down 2
21	Daniel	19,189	up 1
22	Edward	18,714	down 1
23	Mark	16,604	up 1
24	Jerry	15,261	down 1
25	Gregory	13,311	up 6
26	Bruce	12,674	same
27	Roger	12,552	down 2
28	Douglas	12,264	up 1
29	Frank	11,606	down 2
30	Terry	11,433	down 2
31	Raymond	11,180	down 1
32	Timothy	10,499	up 2
33	Lawrence	10,173	down 1
34	Gerald	9,726	down 1
35	Wayne	9,259	same
36	Anthony	8,612	same
37	Peter	8,362	up 1
38	Patrick	8,179	up 1
39	Danny	8,143	up 1
40	Walter	7,798	down 3
41	Alan	7,737	up 4
42	Willie	7,717	down 1
43	Jeffrey	7,644	up 5
44	Carl	7,288	down 1
45	Harold	7,214	down 3
46	Arthur	7,161	down 2
47	Henry	6,963	down 1
48	Jack	6,840	down 1
49	Dale	6,785	up 5
50	Johnny	6,581	down 1
51	Roy	6,454	same
52	Ralph	6,406	down 2
53	Philip	6,070	up 2
54	Joe	6,033	down 2
55	Jimmy	5,761	down 2
56	Albert	5,754	same
57	Billy	5,674	same
58	Eugene	5,481	same
59	Glenn	5,465	up 2
60	Stanley	5,453	same
61	Harry	5,375	down 2
62	Samuel	5,227	same
63	Howard	5,164	same
64	Phillip	5,055	up 2
65	Bobby	5,019	up 2
66	Louis	4,947	down 2
67	Russell	4,945	up 2
68	Andrew	4,932	up 7
69	Craig	4,888	up 8
70	Randall	4,843	up 9
71	Allen	4,840	same
72	Christopher	4,835	up 9
73	Kevin	4,752	up 22
74	Barry	4,694	down 1
75	Frederick	4,659	down 5
76	Ronnie	4,616	down 11
77	Leonard	4,581	down 3
78	Keith	4,566	up 7
79	Brian	4,441	up 7
80	Randy	4,354	up 12
81	Ernest	4,308	down 5
82	Scott	4,268	up 17
83	Steve	4,207	down 15
84	Fred	4,195	down 12
85	Martin	4,180	down 2
86	Francis	4,082	down 8
87	Melvin	3,886	down 5
88	Rodney	3,856	down 1
89	Eddie	3,760	down 9
90	Norman	3,641	same
91	Lee	3,611	up 2
92	Earl	3,589	down 1
93	Marvin	3,493	down 4
94	Tommy	3,434	down 10
95	Clarence	3,340	down 1
96	Alfred	3,235	same
97	Curtis	3,209	same
98	Eric	3,095	up 7
99	Theodore	2,960	up 1
100	Clifford	2,940	up 3

Biggest climbers in 1950

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1949.

Girls

Roxann: up 325 places, from 980th to 655th
Patrice: up 284 places, from 630th to 346th
Rosanna: up 277 places, from 842nd to 565th
Roseanna: up 275 places, from 762nd to 487th
Denice: up 252 places, from 964th to 712th
Marta: up 242 places, from 626th to 384th
Valorie: up 219 places, from 790th to 571st
Jacalyn: up 217 places, from 825th to 608th
Clementine: up 203 places, from 945th to 742nd
Darcy: up 192 places, from 958th to 766th

Boys

Derrick: up 244 places, from 756th to 512th
Derek: up 171 places, from 642nd to 471st
Gerardo: up 169 places, from 977th to 808th
Lindsay: up 162 places, from 861st to 699th
Donnell: up 158 places, from 723rd to 565th
Geary: up 157 places, from 821st to 664th
Newton: up 157 places, from 932nd to 775th
Christophe: up 155 places, from 699th to 544th
Enoch: up 145 places, from 975th to 830th
Avery: up 144 places, from 905th to 761st

New to the top 1,000 in 1950

Girls

Debrah, 694th (its first time ever)
Corliss, 733rd (back after dropping out)
Mindy, 772nd (its first time ever)
Wilhelmina, 784th (back after dropping out)
Shawn, 808th (back after dropping out)
Krista, 828th (its first time ever)
Dina, 835th (back after dropping out)
Leticia, 837th (its first time ever)
Kyle, 879th (its first time ever)
Nancie, 888th (back after dropping out)

Boys

Kelvin, 576th (its first time ever)
Kit, 831st (back after dropping out)
Von, 834th (back after dropping out)
Jared, 857th (back after dropping out)
Junius, 859th (back after dropping out)
Nancy, 861st (back after dropping out)
Raymundo, 869th (back after dropping out)
Ezzard, 873rd (its first time ever)
Lyn, 882nd (back after dropping out)
Valentin, 884th (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1950?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 24.1% of the girls counted in 1950, and the top ten boys' names to 33.8% of the boys. In 1930, those shares were 22.3% for girls and 33.7% for boys.

Source: Social Security Administration, national baby name data, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.