How Names Have Changed: Popular '50s US Baby Names Quiz

Answer: Mary

"Mary" was the most popular name, no doubt due to the Judeo-Christian tradition of honoring saints, and the connection to the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus. The name "Mary" is derived from the Hebrew name "Miriam," and comes from the Hebrew word "mara" meaning "bitter." The connection to the Virgin Mary has made this name and its derivatives popular over the ages. Mary was actually the number one name in the US for baby girls from 1880 (the first year for which I could find statistics) through the end of the 1950s. It fell to second place in the 1960s and still ranked among the top 20 names for girls in the US in the 1970s. After that, it began to fall, ranking only 32nd in the 1980s, and falling to 45th by 1999. In the 2000s, it continued its downward trend, ranking 72nd in 2005 (falling out of the top 100 in 2009 (when it ranked 102nd) and 2011 (when it ranked 112th)). To be fair, many variants of the name are still popular and rank among the top 100 names for girls in the 2000s, such as "Maria" and "Mariah." There are also many combination names that use "Mary" as a component, such as "Maryanne" and "Marybeth".

The other names mentioned were given to babies in the 1950s, with "Marcia" just barely making the top 100 names at 99th, "Martha" ranking 46th and "Margaret" 23rd.

Answer: Linda

The name "Linda" first appeared among the top 100 names for baby girls in the US in 1936, when it ranked 97th. "Linda" had its heyday from the 1940s and 1950s, when it was the second most popular name for girls (reaching the number one position--springing ahead of "Mary" from 1947-1951). By the 1960s, it had fallen to 13th, and after that, the popularity of the name sank rapidly, never to recover its original popularity. "Linda" ranked 75th in the '70s, 130th in the '80s, 340th by the end of the '90s, 416th in 2005 and 592nd in 2011. But what's in a name? The meaning of the name "Linda" is "pretty" and that is a good enough reason to give this name to a beautiful little girl. Other variants of the name, such as "Lynn," are still in use.

The other names mentioned were give to baby girls in the 1950s, with "Leslie" just making the top 100 at 100th, and "Laura" just being edged out by "Lisa", at 39th and 38th, respectively.

Answer: Patricia

"Patricia," the feminine version of "Patrick," is another name that had an intense period of popularity that later fell off. The first record I could find of the name was in the 1880s, when it ranked 902nd, and then in the 1890s, when it ranked 554th, rising to 300th in the 1900s, 176th in the 1910s, rising to 43rd in the 1920s. From the 1930s to the 1960s, "Patricia" was ranked among the top ten names for girls in the US. This popularity was short-lived, however, and it began to lose steam in the 1970s (34th) and 1980s (66th). By the end of the 1990s, "Patricia" ranked 197th. In 2005, it ranked 358th, and in 2011, it ranked 667th. There are many derivative names of "Patricia" that are still used, however, like "Patty", "Pat", "Trish" and "Tricia".

The other names listed were popular in the 1950s, with "Phylis" ranking 77th, "Peggy" ranking 53rd, and "Pamela" ranking 13th.

Answer: Susan

"Susan" is the name that ranked 4th in the 1950s in the US for baby girls. Other popular variants of the name are "Sue" (the moniker preferred by this author), "Susie", "Suzy", and "Suzanne". The name as presented in the question has had a varied history. It was popular in the 1800s, and reached 93rd rank in the 1880s (the first decade for which data was available to me). It fell steadily in popularity until the 1920s, when it was 221st, but started to rise again in the '30s, hitting 126th. Then, in the '40s, '50s, '60s and '70s, it shot to popularity (holding the 15th, 4th, 5th, and 32nd positions for those decades, respectively). In my birth year, 1958, "Susan" was the second most popular name for girls (following only "Mary"). The '80s showed a sharp decline, though, with "Susan" being ranked 103rd, and in 1999, the decline of the name seemed almost final, when it hit 402nd, followed by 596th in 2005 and 781st in 2011. The other variants of the name are still seen, however.

The other names listed were also popular in the '50s, with "Sally" coming in 93rd, "Shirley" 32nd and "Sandra" 12th.

Answer: True

The fifth most popular name in the 1950s in the US for baby girls was indeed "Deborah", with variants spelled "Debra", "Debora" and even "Devorah." Up until the 1940s, the name was not very popular in the mainstream population in the US, but it began to gain wider appeal in that decade, hitting 160th. The name became really popular in the '50s (5th) and '60s (15th), but began to fall off in the '70s (77th) and '80s (192nd). By the end of the '90s, it had fallen to 502nd, followed by a tumble to 658th in 2005. The name was only the 808th most popular for little girls in the US in 2011.

Other ranking "D" names for the decade were Dorothy (60th), "Diana" (57th), "Denise" (26th) and "Diane" (17th).

Answer: Michael

"Michael" was the name of one of the archangels in the Bible and was the most popular name for boys in the US in the '50s. Other variants seen that year were "Mike" and "Micheal" (showing that people have had difficulties spelling throughout the decades). Interestingly enough, this name has been popular consistently since the 1880s (the first decade for which I could find data), never falling below the top 50 names. Ever since the 1950s, it has been the number one name for little boys in the US more than any other name. From 1956 to 1998, there was only one year (1960) when it did not hold the number one spot. "Michael" was the number 2 name from 1999 through 2008, the number three name in 2009 and 2010, and slipped to 6th place in 2011 (after "Jacob," "Mason," "William," "Jayden" and "Noah," in that order).

The other popular "M" names in the '50s couldn't hold a candle to "Michael." "Matthew" was 100th, "Martin" was 78th and "Mark" 9th.

Answer: James

"James" has many variations, including "Jacobus," "Jamie," and "Jaime." From the time data exists on name popularity in the US (the 1880s), "James" was among the top ten names until 1992. From 1992 to 2011, "James" has been in the top 20 names for boys in the US, and it does not seem likely that it will ever fall out of the top 100 names.

The other names listed were also common in the 1950s in the US. "Juan" registered at 98th, "Joseph" at 13th and "Jeffrey" at 24th (though the variant spelling "Jeffery" came in 87th, further proof that some people did not care much about spelling in the '50s).

Answer: Robert

The name "Robert" was among the top ten names from the time such data has been collected in the US (1880s) until the 1980s. In the '90s, the popularity slipped into the teens and had even fallen to 26th by 1999. "Robert" appears to be falling in popularity in more modern times for boys in the US, hitting 37th in 2005, and 61st in 2011. The variants "Rob," "Robbie," "Bob" and "Bobby" are also used frequently, however.

The other "R" names on the list were not as popular as "Robert" in the '50s in the US. "Randall" ranked 61st, "Roy" 63rd, and "Russell" 65th.

Answer: False

The "J" name that came in fourth in 1958 in the US for baby boys was "John" not "Jeremiah." It is of Hebrew origin and means "God has been gracious." From the time such data was kept (1880s) until 1986, "John" remained one of the top ten names for boys in the US.

Thereafter, it remained in the top twenty until 2009, when it fell to 26th, holding that rank for 2010, and falling to 27th in 2011.

Answer: David

The name "David" is Hebrew in origin and means "dearly loved." The name first entered the top ten in popularity in the US in the 1920s, and it remained there until 1993, when it hit 11th. The name continues to be very popular however, ranking 16th in 1999, 13th in 2005 and 18th in 2011.

Other "D" names that were popular for boys in the 1050s in the US were "Dale" (51st), "Daniel" (19th), and "Donald" (14th).