1950s Name Generator

A 1950s name is one of two things: a baby boomer born in the decade, or an adult who lived through it. Babies of the fifties got James, Michael, Robert, David and Gary, with Mark, Steven, Dennis, Randy, Ricky and Terry climbing fast; girls were Mary, Linda, Patricia, Susan, Deborah, Debra, Karen, Donna, Cynthia, Pamela and Sharon. Linda briefly knocked Mary off the top spot for the first time in two centuries. The adults, the parents and teachers and diner owners, carried 1920s and 30s names like Harold, Walter, Dorothy, Mildred and Gladys, so a realistic scene mixes both layers.

The decade also loved double names and diminutives. Peggy Sue, Mary Lou, Betty Jo, Billie Jean, Bobby Joe and Jimmy Ray were real given names, not just song titles, and most boys were Bobby, Jimmy, Danny or Ricky well into adulthood. Greaser and ballpark nicknames (Buzz, Skip, Butch, Sonny, Chip, Dutch) and girls' pet names (Dottie, Patti, Midge, Kitty, Ginger) round out the period sound.

Surnames here reflect the actual postwar population: old-stock Anglo names beside Italian, Polish, German, Irish and Jewish families, with Mexican-American and Black American names in the mix. Use the formal full names for yearbooks and letters, and the nicknames for the sock hop, the drive-in and the dugout.