Most Popular Baby Names of 1951

In 1951, Linda was the most popular name for girls, given to 73,982 babies, and James topped the boys' list with 87,256. Linda held on to number one for a fifth year in a row, and James held on to number one for a 12th year in a row.

Social Security counted 1,800,859 girls and 1,882,837 boys born in 1951 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 6,213 different girls' names and 4,253 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1951

Top girls' names, 1951
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1950
1	Linda	73,982	same
2	Mary	65,721	same
3	Patricia	56,446	same
4	Deborah	42,053	up 3
5	Barbara	40,617	down 1
6	Susan	40,228	down 1
7	Nancy	30,346	down 1
8	Karen	27,998	up 4
9	Sandra	27,665	down 1
10	Kathleen	26,716	same
11	Carol	24,781	down 2
12	Donna	24,074	up 1
13	Sharon	23,920	down 2
14	Brenda	21,717	same
15	Diane	19,840	up 1
16	Pamela	18,570	up 1
17	Margaret	17,692	down 2
18	Debra	17,064	up 41
19	Janet	16,947	down 1
20	Cynthia	16,295	up 3
21	Janice	15,958	up 1
22	Carolyn	15,206	down 2
23	Elizabeth	15,118	up 1
24	Christine	15,017	up 4
25	Judith	14,935	down 4
26	Judy	14,017	down 1
27	Shirley	13,919	down 8
28	Joyce	13,472	down 1
29	Betty	12,822	down 3
30	Cheryl	11,986	down 1
31	Gloria	10,951	down 1
32	Rebecca	10,932	up 4
33	Beverly	10,860	down 2
34	Catherine	10,566	same
35	Kathy	10,406	up 3
36	Gail	9,886	up 6
37	Bonnie	9,706	down 4
38	Martha	9,605	down 6
39	Joan	9,403	up 1
40	Peggy	9,208	up 1
41	Marilyn	9,148	down 4
42	Dorothy	9,089	down 7
43	Jane	8,942	down 4
44	Connie	8,722	same
45	Kathryn	8,460	up 1
46	Ann	8,423	down 1
47	Virginia	8,180	down 4
48	Denise	8,116	up 34
49	Jean	7,627	down 1
50	Diana	7,396	down 3
51	Paula	7,290	up 3
52	Wanda	7,233	same
53	Ruth	7,076	down 4
54	Helen	6,949	down 4
55	Katherine	6,930	up 3
56	Jacqueline	6,915	down 1
57	Phyllis	6,791	down 4
58	Vicki	6,630	up 3
59	Frances	6,584	down 8
60	Laura	6,466	up 3
61	Rita	6,415	down 5
62	Alice	6,315	down 5
63	Teresa	6,213	up 18
64	Theresa	6,190	up 1
65	Rose	6,185	up 4
66	Elaine	6,069	down 6
67	Jo	6,001	down 3
68	Ellen	5,945	down 2
69	Sheila	5,897	up 1
70	Sherry	5,889	down 8
71	Cathy	5,697	up 4
72	Lynn	5,629	up 4
73	Joanne	5,358	down 6
74	Marcia	5,299	up 3
75	Maria	5,236	down 2
76	Marsha	5,188	down 8
77	Sally	5,138	up 1
78	Marie	5,046	down 6
79	Darlene	5,030	same
80	Doris	5,025	down 6
81	Victoria	4,907	up 13
82	Anne	4,873	up 2
83	Suzanne	4,828	down 12
84	Charlotte	4,649	down 4
85	Lois	4,533	down 2
86	Constance	4,367	down 1
87	Vickie	4,320	up 21
88	Evelyn	4,232	down 2
89	Glenda	4,135	down 2
90	Dianne	4,034	same
91	Sarah	4,028	down 3
92	Roberta	3,979	up 4
93	Maureen	3,878	down 4
94	Anna	3,870	down 1
95	Eileen	3,816	down 4
96	Anita	3,785	up 3
97	Sylvia	3,777	same
98	Jeanne	3,768	down 3
99	Julie	3,686	up 12
100	Valerie	3,559	up 16

Top boys' names, 1951
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1950
1	James	87,256	same
2	Robert	86,353	same
3	John	81,569	same
4	Michael	72,807	same
5	David	64,788	same
6	William	62,781	same
7	Richard	54,541	same
8	Thomas	48,275	same
9	Charles	39,406	same
10	Gary	38,160	same
11	Larry	30,558	same
12	Ronald	29,049	same
13	Steven	28,363	up 3
14	Joseph	28,147	down 1
15	Donald	27,916	down 1
16	Kenneth	25,841	down 1
17	Dennis	24,264	same
18	Paul	22,853	same
19	Stephen	22,474	same
20	Mark	21,201	up 3
21	Daniel	21,121	same
22	George	20,212	down 2
23	Edward	19,913	down 1
24	Jerry	15,164	same
25	Gregory	14,102	same
26	Bruce	14,090	same
27	Douglas	13,902	up 1
28	Timothy	12,705	up 4
29	Roger	12,425	down 2
30	Terry	12,216	same
31	Frank	11,477	down 2
32	Raymond	11,227	down 1
33	Lawrence	10,266	same
34	Anthony	9,836	up 2
35	Jeffrey	9,713	up 8
36	Gerald	9,539	down 2
37	Wayne	9,327	down 2
38	Peter	8,999	down 1
39	Patrick	8,751	down 1
40	Alan	8,408	up 1
41	Danny	8,179	down 2
42	Walter	8,038	down 2
43	Carl	7,641	up 1
44	Arthur	7,414	up 2
45	Willie	7,226	down 3
46	Harold	7,178	down 1
47	Henry	7,120	same
48	Jack	7,004	same
49	Dale	6,963	same
50	Johnny	6,700	same
51	Ralph	6,525	up 1
52	Roy	6,466	down 1
53	Kevin	6,349	up 20
54	Stanley	6,205	up 6
55	Philip	6,098	down 2
56	Randy	6,034	up 24
57	Joe	5,824	down 3
58	Glenn	5,803	up 1
59	Keith	5,767	up 19
60	Albert	5,758	down 4
61	Christopher	5,734	up 11
62	Jimmy	5,687	down 7
63	Craig	5,623	up 6
64	Billy	5,610	down 7
65	Eugene	5,580	down 7
66	Randall	5,532	up 4
67	Samuel	5,476	down 5
68	Scott	5,381	up 14
69	Andrew	5,373	down 1
70	Harry	5,303	down 9
71	Barry	5,284	up 3
72	Allen	5,179	down 1
73	Russell	5,175	down 6
74	Howard	5,108	down 11
75	Brian	5,101	up 4
76	Louis	5,089	down 10
77	Bobby	5,006	down 12
78	Frederick	4,984	down 3
79	Phillip	4,910	down 15
80	Leonard	4,738	down 3
81	Martin	4,596	up 4
82	Ronnie	4,530	down 6
83	Ernest	4,382	down 2
84	Rodney	4,296	up 4
85	Francis	4,199	up 1
86	Steve	4,053	down 3
87	Fred	3,994	down 3
88	Melvin	3,837	down 1
89	Eddie	3,748	same
90	Norman	3,729	same
91	Curtis	3,716	up 6
92	Lee	3,682	down 1
93	Eric	3,664	up 5
94	Tommy	3,582	same
95	Earl	3,571	down 3
96	Marvin	3,557	down 3
97	Micheal	3,276	up 7
98	Clarence	3,232	down 3
99	Theodore	3,216	same
100	Alfred	3,203	down 4

Biggest climbers in 1951

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1950.

Girls

Mindy: up 296 places, from 772nd to 476th
Vanessa: up 286 places, from 943rd to 657th
Kyle: up 285 places, from 879th to 594th
Lori: up 270 places, from 617th to 347th
Jocelyn: up 246 places, from 739th to 493rd
Kristie: up 243 places, from 800th to 557th
Bonny: up 235 places, from 850th to 615th
Debbra: up 227 places, from 949th to 722nd
Kelly: up 220 places, from 904th to 684th
Eve: up 207 places, from 852nd to 645th

Boys

Ritchie: up 250 places, from 985th to 735th
Brooks: up 157 places, from 893rd to 736th
Rolando: up 155 places, from 794th to 639th
Layne: up 146 places, from 967th to 821st
Mcarthur: up 144 places, from 953rd to 809th
Geary: up 138 places, from 664th to 526th
Jame: up 138 places, from 983rd to 845th
Dwaine: up 137 places, from 840th to 703rd
Leander: up 133 places, from 997th to 864th
Garold: up 132 places, from 909th to 777th

New to the top 1,000 in 1951

Girls

Sharleen, 771st (its first time ever)
Ricki, 798th (back after dropping out)
Maura, 814th (back after dropping out)
Fonda, 836th (back after dropping out)
Bobbi, 846th (back after dropping out)
Lorelei, 854th (back after dropping out)
Lorie, 859th (its first time ever)
Allyson, 863rd (its first time ever)
Stacy, 867th (back after dropping out)
Hollis, 872nd (back after dropping out)

Boys

Kimberly, 714th (its first time ever)
Ricki, 790th (its first time ever)
Skip, 831st (back after dropping out)
Rolf, 842nd (back after dropping out)
Kurtis, 850th (its first time ever)
Chauncey, 852nd (back after dropping out)
Lucian, 871st (back after dropping out)
Allyn, 882nd (back after dropping out)
Cory, 884th (its first time ever)
Deborah, 893rd (its first time ever)

How spread out were names in 1951?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 24% of the girls counted in 1951, and the top ten boys' names to 33.8% of the boys. In 1931, those shares were 22.9% for girls and 33.8% 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.