Top Names of 1956
The most popular names recorded in 1956 were Mary for girls
and Michael for boys. Full top-50 lists below, from official SSA data.
Girls
| # | Name | Babies |
|---|
| 1 | Mary | 61,743 |
| 2 | Debra | 48,324 |
| 3 | Linda | 48,085 |
| 4 | Deborah | 47,837 |
| 5 | Susan | 46,562 |
| 6 | Patricia | 43,330 |
| 7 | Karen | 40,052 |
| 8 | Cynthia | 32,339 |
| 9 | Barbara | 32,302 |
| 10 | Donna | 29,852 |
| 11 | Nancy | 28,784 |
| 12 | Pamela | 26,927 |
| 13 | Sharon | 26,881 |
| 14 | Sandra | 24,302 |
| 15 | Diane | 22,518 |
| 16 | Carol | 21,407 |
| 17 | Kathleen | 21,377 |
| 18 | Cheryl | 21,279 |
| 19 | Brenda | 19,343 |
| 20 | Kathy | 17,177 |
| 21 | Janet | 16,758 |
| 22 | Elizabeth | 16,353 |
| 23 | Denise | 14,509 |
| 24 | Teresa | 14,464 |
| 25 | Margaret | 13,914 |
| 26 | Janice | 13,017 |
| 27 | Rebecca | 12,170 |
| 28 | Catherine | 12,057 |
| 29 | Robin | 11,621 |
| 30 | Joyce | 11,091 |
| 31 | Lisa | 11,012 |
| 32 | Theresa | 10,841 |
| 33 | Carolyn | 10,634 |
| 34 | Laura | 10,570 |
| 35 | Judy | 10,197 |
| 36 | Cathy | 10,132 |
| 37 | Cindy | 9,979 |
| 38 | Kim | 9,896 |
| 39 | Debbie | 9,862 |
| 40 | Beverly | 9,450 |
| 41 | Shirley | 9,429 |
| 42 | Christine | 9,371 |
| 43 | Connie | 9,361 |
| 44 | Betty | 9,218 |
| 45 | Judith | 9,115 |
| 46 | Ann | 8,990 |
| 47 | Paula | 8,925 |
| 48 | Julie | 8,573 |
| 49 | Gail | 8,435 |
| 50 | Jane | 8,241 |
Boys
| # | Name | Babies |
|---|
| 1 | Michael | 90,691 |
| 2 | James | 84,903 |
| 3 | Robert | 83,912 |
| 4 | David | 81,650 |
| 5 | John | 80,806 |
| 6 | William | 58,990 |
| 7 | Richard | 52,912 |
| 8 | Mark | 48,829 |
| 9 | Thomas | 44,841 |
| 10 | Steven | 38,410 |
| 11 | Charles | 35,239 |
| 12 | Joseph | 32,748 |
| 13 | Gary | 31,839 |
| 14 | Donald | 28,226 |
| 15 | Ronald | 27,723 |
| 16 | Kenneth | 27,433 |
| 17 | Paul | 26,897 |
| 18 | Daniel | 26,653 |
| 19 | Timothy | 23,289 |
| 20 | Jeffrey | 23,282 |
| 21 | Larry | 22,324 |
| 22 | Kevin | 21,763 |
| 23 | Stephen | 21,204 |
| 24 | Gregory | 21,081 |
| 25 | Edward | 19,437 |
| 26 | Dennis | 18,362 |
| 27 | George | 17,236 |
| 28 | Randy | 16,547 |
| 29 | Douglas | 16,390 |
| 30 | Anthony | 15,565 |
| 31 | Terry | 15,066 |
| 32 | Brian | 14,667 |
| 33 | Bruce | 14,660 |
| 34 | Scott | 13,214 |
| 35 | Jerry | 12,620 |
| 36 | Keith | 11,480 |
| 37 | Peter | 11,335 |
| 38 | Frank | 11,150 |
| 39 | Raymond | 11,108 |
| 40 | Patrick | 10,326 |
| 41 | Roger | 10,151 |
| 42 | Lawrence | 8,898 |
| 43 | Ricky | 8,781 |
| 44 | Alan | 8,735 |
| 45 | Wayne | 8,717 |
| 46 | Danny | 8,564 |
| 47 | Christopher | 8,385 |
| 48 | Carl | 8,314 |
| 49 | Gerald | 7,991 |
| 50 | Dale | 7,720 |