babynamepicker

Boy Names of the 1950s

The 100 most common boy names given in the United States during the 1950s, by the number of children recorded with each name across those years.

All 100 names

  1. James 843,768
  2. Michael 837,471
  3. Robert 830,395
  4. John 797,922
  5. David 769,963
  6. William 591,228
  7. Richard 535,461
  8. Thomas 454,385
  9. Mark 382,589
  10. Charles 361,177
  11. Steven 333,666
  12. Gary 329,933
  13. Joseph 300,012
  14. Donald 273,574
  15. Ronald 271,139
  16. Kenneth 262,819
  17. Paul 253,202
  18. Larry 245,698
  19. Daniel 243,727
  20. Stephen 207,276
  21. Dennis 204,267
  22. Timothy 198,324
  23. Edward 188,323
  24. Jeffrey 184,668
  25. George 181,031
  26. Gregory 178,457
  27. Kevin 159,010
  28. Douglas 148,205
  29. Terry 140,724
  30. Anthony 136,647
  31. Jerry 136,567
  32. Bruce 136,457
  33. Randy 120,537
  34. Brian 112,336
  35. Frank 112,321
  36. Scott 111,819
  37. Roger 110,158
  38. Raymond 108,928
  39. Peter 102,747
  40. Patrick 96,851
  41. Keith 91,235
  42. Lawrence 91,110
  43. Wayne 88,092
  44. Danny 86,640
  45. Alan 83,976
  46. Gerald 82,626
  47. Ricky 79,170
  48. Carl 78,752
  49. Christopher 78,333
  50. Dale 75,567
  51. Walter 72,197
  52. Craig 69,481
  53. Willie 66,460
  54. Johnny 65,786
  55. Arthur 65,716
  56. Steve 64,212
  57. Joe 62,620
  58. Randall 62,450
  59. Russell 62,406
  60. Jack 62,387
  61. Henry 62,230
  62. Harold 62,183
  63. Roy 61,847
  64. Andrew 60,972
  65. Philip 60,853
  66. Ralph 60,440
  67. Billy 59,277
  68. Glenn 58,714
  69. Stanley 57,164
  70. Jimmy 54,892
  71. Rodney 54,817
  72. Barry 54,812
  73. Samuel 53,767
  74. Eric 53,295
  75. Bobby 53,281
  76. Albert 52,829
  77. Phillip 52,457
  78. Ronnie 51,302
  79. Martin 50,994
  80. Mike 48,345
  81. Eugene 48,281
  82. Louis 47,933
  83. Howard 47,852
  84. Allen 47,322
  85. Curtis 46,324
  86. Jeffery 45,879
  87. Frederick 44,288
  88. Leonard 43,551
  89. Harry 43,335
  90. Micheal 40,908
  91. Tony 40,782
  92. Ernest 39,680
  93. Eddie 38,598
  94. Fred 37,445
  95. Darrell 37,257
  96. Jay 36,969
  97. Melvin 36,165
  98. Lee 35,826
  99. Matthew 35,796
  100. Vincent 35,351

How 1950s boy names compare

James was the most common boy name of the 1950s, given to 843,768 boys across those years, with Michael, Robert, John and David behind it. The hundredth name on the list, Vincent, accounts for 35,351. Between them the hundred names cover 15,437,011 births. Three different names took the number one spot across the decade: Michael for six years, James for three years and Robert for one year.

83 of these names were also in the 1940s top 100, and 17 were not. 18 are still in the 2025 top 100 — James, Michael, Robert, John, David, William, Thomas and Charles, among others — and 42 are inside the top 500.

Those hundred names cover 76.4% of all boys born in the 1950s — 15,437,011 of 20,217,136 — and James alone accounts for 4.2% of them. The hundred most common names of 2025 take 38.0% between them, so naming has spread wider since. Every one of the hundred was already in the record before the 1950s began.

Questions about 1950s boy names

What was the most popular boy name of the 1950s?

James, given to 843,768 boys across those years. The next two were Michael and Robert.

Are 1950s boy names still used today?

18 of the hundred are in the 2025 top 100: James, Michael, Robert, John, David, William, Thomas and Charles, among others.