Name Legacy

Baby names in South Dakota, 1950s

1950–1959 · 154,781 recorded births

David was the most common name given in South Dakota across the 1950s, with 3,570 births in the decade. The state recorded 154,781 births in total over those years.

Most distinctive to South Dakota 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
Marlys12319×
Darwin131
Lavonne93
Loren234
Lyle265
Leann114
Harlan90
Renae64

Top 25 in the 1950s

RankNameBirths
#1David3,570
#2Michael3,347
#3James2,959
#4Mary2,873
#5Robert2,788
#6Linda2,413
#7Steven2,408
#8John2,274
#9Richard2,252
#10Mark2,074
#11Debra2,055
#12Susan1,996
#13Thomas1,853
#14Gary1,732
#15Patricia1,623
#16Barbara1,616
#17Douglas1,609
#18William1,589
#19Nancy1,571
#20Karen1,452
#21Daniel1,451
#22Ronald1,368
#23Sandra1,308
#24Donald1,283
#24Pamela1,283

Other decades in South Dakota

All South Dakota 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