Name Legacy

Baby names in Maryland, 1950s

1950–1959 · 574,608 recorded births

Michael was the most common name given in Maryland across the 1950s, with 14,509 births in the decade. The state recorded 574,608 births in total over those years.

Most distinctive to Maryland in the 1950s

Names given far more often here than nationally in these years. The multiplier is conservative — it is the low end of the plausible range, so a name carried by a handful of births does not outrank one carried by hundreds.

NameBirthsvs national
Carville5
Carlester10
Purnell18
Carroll334
Roslyn191
Tyrone745
Ellsworth33
Andre451

Top 25 in the 1950s

RankNameBirths
#1Michael14,509
#2John14,393
#3Robert14,203
#4James13,807
#5William12,521
#6David11,487
#7Mary10,752
#8Deborah10,021
#9Linda8,947
#10Patricia8,525
#11Charles8,474
#12Richard8,288
#13Thomas7,338
#14Susan6,616
#15Barbara6,494
#16Joseph6,411
#17Sharon5,909
#18Karen5,732
#19Mark5,457
#20Donna5,058
#21Gary4,829
#22Donald4,696
#23Ronald4,551
#24Steven4,340
#25Nancy4,237

Other decades in Maryland

All Maryland names, 2025

Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. State records begin in 1910. Names given to fewer than five babies in a state in a year are withheld at source. namelegacy.org