Popular Names of 1952

The 20 most popular names given to female and to male babies born in 1952, as recorded, with each name’s rank in 2025.

Table 1. Female names, 1952
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	Linda	67,082	902
2	Mary	65,629	125
3	Patricia	53,101	1,336
4	Deborah	49,811	864
5	Susan	41,348	1,091
6	Barbara	39,864	968
7	Nancy	31,739	967
8	Karen	28,956	1,281
9	Debra	26,832	4,478
10	Sandra	26,097	1,210
11	Kathleen	25,767	1,156
12	Carol	24,000	2,242
13	Donna	23,718	1,965
14	Sharon	23,386	1,256
15	Brenda	21,439	1,527
16	Diane	21,063	2,620
17	Pamela	20,879	2,251
18	Cynthia	19,878	1,014
19	Janet	17,921	2,791
20	Christine	17,548	1,274

Table 2. Male names, 1952
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	James	87,065	6
2	Robert	86,588	92
3	John	83,140	23
4	Michael	79,037	21
5	David	71,752	35
6	William	63,039	9
7	Richard	58,350	234
8	Thomas	48,647	34
9	Charles	38,866	48
10	Gary	38,754	1,073
11	Steven	32,037	271
12	Joseph	28,510	29
13	Donald	28,269	690
14	Larry	28,239	1,085
15	Ronald	27,800	638
16	Kenneth	25,909	294
17	Mark	25,678	245
18	Dennis	24,552	707
19	Paul	24,292	262
20	Daniel	23,418	22

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As recorded on the Social Security card application. Names given to fewer than five babies of a sex in a year are not published, so the file is a floor.