Popular names of 1951, and how old they are now

People born in 1951 turn 75 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 3.7 million births in 1951 under names it lists, and by our estimate about 66% of them are still alive: about 2.4 million people.

The year's top names were Linda for girls and James for boys. Babies born that year are Baby Boomers (see Boomer names).

12 names on AgeByName had their busiest year ever in 1951: Patricia, Kathleen, Janice, Gail, Ellen, Marcia, Allen, Gayle, Jacquelyn, Francine, Glenna and Sherman.

Top girl names of 1951

Most popular girl names of 1951
#	Name	Born 1951	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Linda	73,982	54,000	70
2	Mary	65,721	48,000	66
3	Patricia	56,446	41,000	68
4	Deborah	42,053	31,000	66
5	Barbara	40,617	30,000	72
6	Susan	40,228	29,000	66
7	Nancy	30,346	22,000	68
8	Karen	27,998	21,000	63
9	Sandra	27,665	20,000	66
10	Kathleen	26,716	20,000	64
11	Carol	24,781	18,000	72
12	Donna	24,074	18,000	68
13	Sharon	23,920	18,000	68
14	Brenda	21,717	16,000	63
15	Diane	19,840	15,000	68
16	Pamela	18,570	14,000	64
17	Margaret	17,692	13,000	61
18	Debra	17,064	12,000	66
19	Janet	16,947	12,000	68
20	Cynthia	16,295	12,000	60
21	Janice	15,958	12,000	70
22	Carolyn	15,206	11,000	67
23	Elizabeth	15,118	11,000	44
24	Christine	15,017	11,000	57
25	Judith	14,935	11,000	72
26	Judy	14,017	10,000	72
27	Shirley	13,919	10,000	75
28	Joyce	13,472	9,900	72
29	Betty	12,822	9,400	76
30	Cheryl	11,986	8,800	65
31	Gloria	10,951	8,000	66
32	Rebecca	10,932	8,000	48
33	Beverly	10,860	8,000	70
34	Catherine	10,566	7,700	54
35	Kathy	10,406	7,600	65
36	Gail	9,886	7,200	71
37	Bonnie	9,706	7,100	66
38	Martha	9,605	7,000	66
39	Joan	9,403	6,900	73
40	Peggy	9,208	6,700	71
41	Marilyn	9,148	6,700	69
42	Dorothy	9,089	6,700	72
43	Jane	8,942	6,600	62
44	Connie	8,722	6,400	67
45	Kathryn	8,460	6,200	51
46	Ann	8,423	6,200	65
47	Virginia	8,180	6,000	66
48	Denise	8,116	5,900	59
49	Jean	7,627	5,600	69
50	Diana	7,396	5,400	52

Top boy names of 1951

Most popular boy names of 1951
#	Name	Born 1951	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	James	87,256	52,000	54
2	Robert	86,353	51,000	58
3	John	81,569	49,000	55
4	Michael	72,807	43,000	49
5	David	64,788	39,000	52
6	William	62,781	37,000	51
7	Richard	54,541	32,000	60
8	Thomas	48,275	29,000	53
9	Charles	39,406	23,000	54
10	Gary	38,160	23,000	65
11	Larry	30,558	18,000	65
12	Ronald	29,049	17,000	64
13	Steven	28,363	17,000	52
14	Joseph	28,147	17,000	45
15	Donald	27,916	17,000	64
16	Kenneth	25,841	15,000	57
17	Dennis	24,264	14,000	63
18	Paul	22,853	14,000	57
19	Stephen	22,474	13,000	54
20	Mark	21,201	13,000	56
21	Daniel	21,121	13,000	42
22	George	20,212	12,000	57
23	Edward	19,913	12,000	56
24	Jerry	15,164	9,000	63
25	Gregory	14,102	8,400	54
26	Bruce	14,090	8,400	63
27	Douglas	13,902	8,300	59
28	Timothy	12,705	7,600	50
29	Roger	12,425	7,400	63
30	Terry	12,216	7,300	62
31	Frank	11,477	6,800	59
32	Raymond	11,227	6,700	56
33	Lawrence	10,266	6,100	60
34	Anthony	9,836	5,900	40
35	Jeffrey	9,713	5,800	53
36	Gerald	9,539	5,700	64
37	Wayne	9,327	5,600	63
38	Peter	8,999	5,400	51
39	Patrick	8,751	5,200	47
40	Alan	8,408	5,000	49
41	Danny	8,179	4,900	57
42	Walter	8,038	4,800	58
43	Carl	7,641	4,600	60
44	Arthur	7,414	4,400	54
45	Willie	7,226	4,300	64
46	Harold	7,178	4,300	66
47	Henry	7,120	4,200	34
48	Jack	7,004	4,200	34
49	Dale	6,963	4,100	64
50	Johnny	6,700	4,000	54

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 1951, from Social Security's records. “Alive today” estimates how many of them are still living, using SSA's cohort life tables for people born in 1951. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 1951 babies. How we calculate this