Name Legacy

Baby names in Pennsylvania, 1950s

1950–1959 · 2,317,237 recorded births

John was the most common name given in Pennsylvania across the 1950s, with 66,216 births in the decade. The state recorded 2,317,237 births in total over those years.

Most distinctive to Pennsylvania 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
Regis47510×
Benuel15
Elam48
Nevin134
Donnamarie112
Clair374
Marylouise70
Domenic203

Top 25 in the 1950s

RankNameBirths
#1John66,216
#2Robert63,804
#3James54,355
#4David53,309
#5Michael50,419
#6William47,037
#7Mary40,138
#8Richard39,183
#9Thomas38,424
#10Linda36,690
#11Joseph35,232
#12Susan32,697
#13Patricia32,616
#14Deborah30,644
#15Karen25,531
#16Barbara25,325
#17Mark23,232
#18Charles22,656
#19Donna22,395
#20Kathleen21,241
#21Gary19,943
#22Debra19,586
#23Nancy19,309
#24Ronald18,808
#25Edward18,622

Other decades in Pennsylvania

All Pennsylvania 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