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Names

Most popular baby names of 1961

In 1961, the most popular names in the US were Mary for girls and Michael for boys. Here are the top 100, with how many babies got each name.

← 19601962 →

Girls

  1. 1Mary47,682
  2. 2Lisa42,720
  3. 3Susan37,532
  4. 4Linda35,597
  5. 5Karen34,707
  6. 6Patricia28,889
  7. 7Donna28,679
  8. 8Cynthia24,393
  9. 9Sandra24,153
  10. 10Deborah24,107
  11. 11Brenda23,781
  12. 12Barbara23,002
  13. 13Debra22,160
  14. 14Lori21,876
  15. 15Pamela21,691
  16. 16Nancy20,729
  17. 17Sharon20,459
  18. 18Teresa18,909
  19. 19Elizabeth18,855
  20. 20Cheryl18,301
  21. 21Laura17,901
  22. 22Kimberly17,355
  23. 23Julie17,040
  24. 24Carol16,667
  25. 25Kathy16,385
  26. 26Diane16,205
  27. 27Robin15,653
  28. 28Tammy15,532
  29. 29Kathleen15,395
  30. 30Denise15,379
  31. 31Debbie14,882
  32. 32Janet13,930
  33. 33Cindy13,388
  34. 34Michelle12,741
  35. 35Theresa11,960
  36. 36Kim11,367
  37. 37Jacqueline10,983
  38. 38Angela10,843
  39. 39Christine10,598
  40. 40Margaret10,559
  41. 41Tina10,521
  42. 42Carolyn10,509
  43. 43Laurie10,435
  44. 44Rebecca10,236
  45. 45Kelly9,642
  46. 46Rhonda9,469
  47. 47Jennifer9,265
  48. 48Catherine9,251
  49. 49Dawn9,148
  50. 50Connie8,986
  51. 51Terri8,730
  52. 52Janice8,727
  53. 53Sherry8,361
  54. 54Ann8,216
  55. 55Cathy8,211
  56. 56Diana8,198
  57. 57Maria7,947
  58. 58Judy7,922
  59. 59Sheila7,805
  60. 60Paula7,744
  61. 61Wendy7,154
  62. 62Joyce6,996
  63. 63Michele6,995
  64. 64Tracy6,988
  65. 65Beth6,716
  66. 66Beverly6,708
  67. 67Valerie6,677
  68. 68Suzanne6,611
  69. 69Amy6,610
  70. 70Wanda6,467
  71. 71Lynn6,441
  72. 72Jane6,365
  73. 73Annette6,203
  74. 74Jill6,137
  75. 75Bonnie6,033
  76. 76Vicki5,967
  77. 77Carla5,817
  78. 78Stephanie5,816
  79. 79Renee5,782
  80. 80Darlene5,728
  81. 81Martha5,724
  82. 82Gloria5,691
  83. 83Judith5,690
  84. 84Leslie5,668
  85. 85Shirley5,638
  86. 86Katherine5,632
  87. 87Betty5,584
  88. 88Peggy5,567
  89. 89Joan5,551
  90. 90Anne5,524
  91. 91Anita5,503
  92. 92Jean5,366
  93. 93Kathryn5,226
  94. 94Gail4,973
  95. 95Melissa4,900
  96. 96Ruth4,896
  97. 97Ellen4,844
  98. 98Regina4,764
  99. 99Dorothy4,732
  100. 100Anna4,678

Boys

  1. 1Michael86,974
  2. 2David84,810
  3. 3John79,983
  4. 4James75,969
  5. 5Robert72,977
  6. 6Mark57,796
  7. 7William48,045
  8. 8Richard41,142
  9. 9Thomas37,565
  10. 10Steven32,275
  11. 11Jeffrey32,029
  12. 12Joseph29,450
  13. 13Charles29,194
  14. 14Kevin28,926
  15. 15Timothy28,253
  16. 16Kenneth26,100
  17. 17Daniel25,904
  18. 18Paul25,640
  19. 19Scott23,934
  20. 20Brian22,566
  21. 21Gary22,174
  22. 22Donald21,409
  23. 23Gregory21,364
  24. 24Ronald20,842
  25. 25Anthony20,209
  26. 26Christopher17,223
  27. 27Stephen16,069
  28. 28Douglas15,978
  29. 29Edward15,877
  30. 30Larry14,580
  31. 31George13,644
  32. 32Terry13,194
  33. 33Randy12,603
  34. 34Dennis12,503
  35. 35Keith12,275
  36. 36Mike11,667
  37. 37Jerry11,381
  38. 38Eric11,111
  39. 39Patrick11,052
  40. 40Bruce10,705
  41. 41Frank10,433
  42. 42Peter10,349
  43. 43Craig10,235
  44. 44Ricky10,027
  45. 45Steve9,997
  46. 46Todd9,750
  47. 47Roger9,652
  48. 48Raymond9,618
  49. 49Jeff9,463
  50. 50Jeffery8,923
  51. 51Alan8,617
  52. 52Andrew8,483
  53. 53Tony8,306
  54. 54Danny8,199
  55. 55Russell7,333
  56. 56Carl7,255
  57. 57Chris7,203
  58. 58Dale7,193
  59. 59Matthew7,081
  60. 60Joe7,056
  61. 61Wayne6,762
  62. 62Gerald6,630
  63. 63Randall6,587
  64. 64Glenn6,271
  65. 65Tim6,245
  66. 66Barry6,220
  67. 67Lawrence6,094
  68. 68Billy6,026
  69. 69Phillip5,976
  70. 70Johnny5,905
  71. 71Jimmy5,749
  72. 72Rodney5,660
  73. 73Martin5,476
  74. 74Walter5,467
  75. 75Curtis5,447
  76. 76Bobby5,402
  77. 77Greg5,397
  78. 78Jim5,352
  79. 79Philip5,288
  80. 80Darryl5,134
  81. 81Jay5,119
  82. 82Bryan5,028
  83. 83Roy4,966
  84. 84Dean4,933
  85. 85Arthur4,815
  86. 86Willie4,790
  87. 87Bradley4,745
  88. 88Tom4,731
  89. 89Samuel4,667
  90. 90Jack4,639
  91. 91Ronnie4,624
  92. 92Henry4,620
  93. 93Jon4,608
  94. 94Harold4,448
  95. 95Ralph4,443
  96. 96Allen4,391
  97. 97Albert4,324
  98. 98Vincent4,317
  99. 99Victor4,301
  100. 100Troy4,259

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Where the counts come from: the US from Social Security card records from 1880 (names given to at least 5 babies in a year; years before about 1937 count fewer people, because the cards started then), and before 1880 from Douglas Galbi's tables of a census sample. England and Wales from the Office for National Statistics from 1996, and before that from Stephen Bush's study of local birth records, a sample of about 120,000 births a year (CC BY 4.0). Scotland from National Records of Scotland. Northern Ireland from NISRA. France from INSEE, first names and last names. Italy from ISTAT (CC BY 4.0), the top 50 names a year. Berlin from the city's open data (CC BY 3.0 DE), counting only the first of a child's names. UK figures are Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence. US last names from the 2020 census, and before 1850 from the 1790 census. Irish last names from Robert Matheson's report on the births of 1890. Italian last names from the City of Florence (CC BY 4.0). Norwegian last names from Statistics Norway (CC BY 4.0).

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