Name Legacy

Baby names in New York, 1950s

1950–1959 · 3,298,223 recorded births

Robert was the most common name given in New York across the 1950s, with 86,781 births in the decade. The state recorded 3,298,223 births in total over those years.

Most distinctive to New York 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
Milagros1,05010×
Chaim299
Chaya179
Gitty68
Nilsa335
Ivette457
Maritza685
Zulma121

Top 25 in the 1950s

RankNameBirths
#1Robert86,781
#2John85,530
#3Michael81,055
#4James65,083
#5David56,810
#6Richard56,514
#7William54,810
#8Thomas51,215
#9Mary50,214
#10Susan47,829
#11Joseph46,990
#12Patricia45,992
#13Linda44,018
#14Barbara36,211
#15Deborah36,134
#16Mark30,398
#17Karen29,763
#18Steven29,630
#19Kathleen29,392
#20Nancy28,947
#21Paul28,521
#22Donna26,013
#23Diane25,347
#24Charles25,321
#25Gary25,167

Other decades in New York

All New York 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