Cowboy names first galloped onto the scene in the 1950s and 1960s, along with the cool Western TV shows and movies of the era.  A lot of these were Old Testament names that had not been heard much since, well, since the real Old West.  Some of the early choices that launched a trend that’s still going strong:

　　ADAM – – Bonanza

　　BARNABY — Wagon Train

　　BART — Maverick

　　BEAU — Wells Fargo, Maverick

　　BEN —Bonanza

　　BRENT — Maverick

　　BRET — Maverick

　　CALEB  — Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

　　CHEYENNE — Cheyenne

　　EPHRAIM — Seven Brides

　　FLINT — Wagon Train

　　GIDEON — Seven Brides

　　JARROD — Big Valley

　　JASON — Wanted: Dead or Alive; Here Come the Brides

　　JEB — Wells Fargo

　　JED – – Rawhide; How The West Was Won

　　JEREMY — Here Come the Brides

　　JOSH — Wanted: Dead or Alive

　　JOSHUA — Here Come the Brides

　　LUCAS — Rifleman

　　LUKE — How the West Was Won

　　MATT — Gunsmoke

　　SETH — Wagon Train

　　SHANE — Shane

　　SIMON — Rawhide

　　ZEB — How The West Was Won

　　Females and their names were in short supply in the Old West, split between hardy pioneer women and dance hall girls. Their names help you tell which was which:

　　ALICE — Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

　　BELLE — Wells Fargo

　　BIDDIE — Here Come the Brides

　　CANDY –Here Come the Brides

　　DORCAS — Seven Brides

　　EVE — How The West Was Won

　　JULIE — How The West Was Won

　　KITTY — Gunsmoke

　　LIZA — Seven Brides

　　MARTHA — Seven Brides

　　MILLY — Seven Brides

　　SARAH — Seven Brides

　　Tomorrow: Names for thoroughly modern cowbabies.