Most Popular Baby Names of 1952

In 1952, Linda was the most popular name for girls, given to 67,082 babies, and James topped the boys' list with 87,065. Linda held on to number one for a sixth year in a row, and James held on to number one for a 13th year in a row.

Social Security counted 1,854,335 girls and 1,943,633 boys born in 1952 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 6,389 different girls' names and 4,257 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1952

Top girls' names, 1952
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1951
1	Linda	67,082	same
2	Mary	65,629	same
3	Patricia	53,101	same
4	Deborah	49,811	same
5	Susan	41,348	up 1
6	Barbara	39,864	down 1
7	Nancy	31,739	same
8	Karen	28,956	same
9	Debra	26,832	up 9
10	Sandra	26,097	down 1
11	Kathleen	25,767	down 1
12	Carol	24,000	down 1
13	Donna	23,718	down 1
14	Sharon	23,386	down 1
15	Brenda	21,439	down 1
16	Diane	21,063	down 1
17	Pamela	20,879	down 1
18	Cynthia	19,878	up 2
19	Janet	17,921	same
20	Christine	17,548	up 4
21	Margaret	17,102	down 4
22	Elizabeth	16,022	up 1
23	Janice	14,978	down 2
24	Carolyn	14,272	down 2
25	Judith	14,064	same
26	Judy	13,632	same
27	Joyce	13,126	up 1
28	Shirley	12,529	down 1
29	Kathy	12,369	up 6
30	Rebecca	12,227	up 2
31	Cheryl	12,201	down 1
32	Betty	12,129	down 3
33	Denise	11,652	up 15
34	Catherine	11,053	same
35	Beverly	10,547	down 2
36	Gloria	10,458	down 5
37	Joan	10,278	up 2
38	Marilyn	9,803	up 3
39	Gail	9,760	down 3
40	Martha	9,696	down 2
41	Bonnie	9,383	down 4
42	Jane	9,322	up 1
43	Peggy	8,990	down 3
44	Connie	8,756	same
45	Ann	8,653	up 1
46	Dorothy	8,609	down 4
47	Paula	8,567	up 4
48	Kathryn	8,504	down 3
49	Virginia	8,161	down 2
50	Jean	7,511	down 1
51	Diana	7,392	down 1
52	Teresa	7,294	up 11
53	Laura	7,188	up 7
54	Wanda	7,164	down 2
55	Jo	7,092	up 12
56	Cathy	7,011	up 15
57	Ruth	6,953	down 4
58	Jacqueline	6,938	down 2
59	Katherine	6,891	down 4
60	Theresa	6,809	up 4
61	Vicki	6,775	down 3
62	Rose	6,553	up 3
63	Helen	6,464	down 9
64	Sheila	6,217	up 5
65	Phyllis	6,151	down 8
66	Rita	6,148	down 5
67	Frances	6,079	down 8
68	Sherry	5,956	up 2
69	Alice	5,908	down 7
70	Ellen	5,842	down 2
71	Lynn	5,818	up 1
72	Maria	5,695	up 3
73	Elaine	5,650	down 7
74	Victoria	5,603	up 7
75	Marsha	5,583	up 1
76	Vickie	5,482	up 11
77	Darlene	5,427	up 2
78	Joanne	5,351	down 5
79	Anne	5,257	up 3
80	Marcia	5,210	down 6
81	Sally	5,037	down 4
82	Marie	4,977	down 4
83	Doris	4,950	down 3
84	Suzanne	4,909	down 1
85	Julie	4,497	up 14
86	Lois	4,361	down 1
87	Valerie	4,263	up 13
88	Roberta	4,228	up 4
89	Charlotte	4,204	down 5
90	Evelyn	4,155	down 2
91	Anita	4,134	up 5
92	Constance	4,117	down 6
93	Sarah	4,046	down 2
94	Maureen	4,039	down 1
95	Rhonda	3,963	up 16
96	Dianne	3,895	down 6
97	Glenda	3,880	down 8
98	Jeanne	3,827	same
99	Sylvia	3,789	down 2
100	Eileen	3,742	down 5

Top boys' names, 1952
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1951
1	James	87,065	same
2	Robert	86,588	same
3	John	83,140	same
4	Michael	79,037	same
5	David	71,752	same
6	William	63,039	same
7	Richard	58,350	same
8	Thomas	48,647	same
9	Charles	38,866	same
10	Gary	38,754	same
11	Steven	32,037	up 2
12	Joseph	28,510	up 2
13	Donald	28,269	up 2
14	Larry	28,239	down 3
15	Ronald	27,800	down 3
16	Kenneth	25,909	same
17	Mark	25,678	up 3
18	Dennis	24,552	down 1
19	Paul	24,292	down 1
20	Daniel	23,418	up 1
21	Stephen	23,055	down 2
22	George	19,821	same
23	Edward	19,501	same
24	Gregory	15,191	up 1
25	Bruce	14,480	up 1
26	Jerry	14,438	down 2
27	Timothy	14,167	up 1
28	Douglas	13,680	down 1
29	Terry	12,438	up 1
30	Roger	12,132	down 1
31	Jeffrey	12,006	up 4
32	Frank	11,268	down 1
33	Raymond	11,235	down 1
34	Anthony	11,188	same
35	Lawrence	10,302	down 2
36	Peter	9,586	up 2
37	Patrick	9,175	up 2
38	Wayne	9,087	down 1
39	Gerald	9,031	down 3
40	Danny	8,821	up 1
41	Randy	8,646	up 15
42	Alan	8,310	down 2
43	Kevin	7,916	up 10
44	Walter	7,897	down 2
45	Carl	7,823	down 2
46	Dale	7,417	up 3
47	Arthur	7,236	down 3
48	Willie	7,197	down 3
49	Keith	7,174	up 10
50	Henry	6,974	down 3
51	Harold	6,957	down 5
52	Jack	6,937	down 4
53	Johnny	6,771	down 3
54	Scott	6,538	up 14
55	Roy	6,524	down 3
56	Ralph	6,469	down 5
57	Christopher	6,302	up 4
58	Stanley	6,226	down 4
59	Craig	6,187	up 4
60	Philip	6,154	down 5
61	Glenn	5,945	down 3
62	Joe	5,892	down 5
63	Randall	5,892	up 3
64	Brian	5,741	up 11
65	Billy	5,708	down 1
66	Albert	5,660	down 6
67	Samuel	5,647	same
68	Andrew	5,572	up 1
69	Barry	5,504	up 2
70	Russell	5,349	up 3
71	Eugene	5,314	down 6
72	Jimmy	5,311	down 10
73	Howard	5,244	up 1
74	Phillip	5,001	up 5
75	Harry	4,993	down 5
76	Frederick	4,979	up 2
77	Bobby	4,960	same
78	Allen	4,956	down 6
79	Louis	4,924	down 3
80	Martin	4,735	up 1
81	Ricky	4,655	up 21
82	Ronnie	4,636	same
83	Leonard	4,619	down 3
84	Rodney	4,403	same
85	Steve	4,313	up 1
86	Curtis	4,175	up 5
87	Ernest	4,123	down 4
88	Eric	3,989	up 5
89	Francis	3,979	down 4
90	Fred	3,960	down 3
91	Melvin	3,920	down 3
92	Lee	3,655	same
93	Eddie	3,643	down 4
94	Micheal	3,613	up 3
95	Marvin	3,575	up 1
96	Norman	3,572	down 6
97	Tommy	3,512	down 3
98	Earl	3,456	down 3
99	Clifford	3,317	up 2
100	Theodore	3,270	down 1

Biggest climbers in 1952

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1951.

Girls

Vanessa: up 354 places, from 657th to 303rd
Mitzi: up 336 places, from 933rd to 597th
Charmaine: up 292 places, from 623rd to 331st
Geralyn: up 250 places, from 894th to 644th
Janeen: up 213 places, from 962nd to 749th
Kristy: up 203 places, from 667th to 464th
Kelly: up 194 places, from 684th to 490th
Christi: up 182 places, from 929th to 747th
Herlinda: up 179 places, from 980th to 801st
Tara: up 173 places, from 927th to 754th

Boys

Beverly: up 207 places, from 973rd to 766th
Len: up 189 places, from 925th to 736th
Brandon: up 188 places, from 993rd to 805th
Corey: up 177 places, from 854th to 677th
Warner: up 177 places, from 970th to 793rd
Deborah: up 167 places, from 893rd to 726th
Ike: up 164 places, from 908th to 744th
Taylor: up 162 places, from 856th to 694th
Tod: up 162 places, from 901st to 739th
Mel: up 158 places, from 957th to 799th

New to the top 1,000 in 1952

Girls

Pandora, 784th (its first time ever)
Jodi, 813th (its first time ever)
Dorinda, 836th (back after dropping out)
Kimberley, 838th (its first time ever)
Megan, 844th (its first time ever)
Shauna, 845th (back after dropping out)
Lauri, 861st (its first time ever)
Paige, 895th (its first time ever)
Norine, 918th (back after dropping out)
Thea, 920th (back after dropping out)

Boys

Audie, 830th (back after dropping out)
Garfield, 844th (back after dropping out)
Darren, 846th (its first time ever)
Bryon, 852nd (back after dropping out)
Dell, 854th (back after dropping out)
Cris, 866th (back after dropping out)
Adan, 870th (back after dropping out)
Robby, 877th (back after dropping out)
Bernardo, 883rd (back after dropping out)
Cesar, 886th (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1952?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 23.2% of the girls counted in 1952, and the top ten boys' names to 33.7% of the boys. In 1932, those shares were 23% for girls and 33.6% 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.