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The most popular baby names of 1951

SSA recorded 3,683,696 births in 1951 across all reported names — 1,800,859 girls and 1,882,837 boys.

Top 100 girls' names in 1951

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

Top 100 boys' names in 1951

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

Names that climbed fastest in 1951

Ranked by places gained against 1950, among names with at least 200 births in both years.

NameRank 1951Rank 1950Change
Kim girls 331 481 +150
Marcy girls 430 560 +130
Debora girls 311 437 +126
Crystal girls 338 452 +114
Patrice girls 248 346 +98
Colette girls 506 596 +90
Chris girls 491 562 +71
Sherri girls 301 370 +69
Patti girls 227 293 +66
Derek boys 408 471 +63
Roxanne girls 234 296 +62
Kyle boys 369 430 +61
Lucia girls 521 581 +60
Kim boys 172 232 +60
Elva girls 495 554 +59

Names that fell fastest in 1951

NameRank 1951Rank 1950Change
Shari girls 445 335 -110
Angelina girls 588 492 -96
Pat girls 465 386 -79
Beulah girls 552 478 -74
Marietta girls 565 493 -72
Queen girls 596 527 -69
Daphne girls 578 513 -65
Sharron girls 416 354 -62
Nettie girls 535 474 -61
Mabel girls 608 547 -61
Ruthie girls 471 412 -59
Angie girls 585 527 -58
Janelle girls 543 486 -57
Lela girls 550 493 -57
Madelyn girls 574 517 -57

Names that first appear in 1951

1951 is the earliest year these names clear the SSA reporting threshold of five births.

Names that peaked in 1951

For these names, 1951 is the single biggest year in the whole 1880–2025 record.