Top Names of 1961
The most popular names recorded in 1961 were Mary for girls
and Michael for boys. Full top-50 lists below, from official SSA data.
Girls
| # | Name | Babies |
|---|
| 1 | Mary | 47,688 |
| 2 | Lisa | 42,719 |
| 3 | Susan | 37,530 |
| 4 | Linda | 35,592 |
| 5 | Karen | 34,697 |
| 6 | Patricia | 28,889 |
| 7 | Donna | 28,674 |
| 8 | Cynthia | 24,389 |
| 9 | Sandra | 24,154 |
| 10 | Deborah | 24,105 |
| 11 | Brenda | 23,781 |
| 12 | Barbara | 22,998 |
| 13 | Debra | 22,161 |
| 14 | Lori | 21,875 |
| 15 | Pamela | 21,690 |
| 16 | Nancy | 20,728 |
| 17 | Sharon | 20,458 |
| 18 | Teresa | 18,909 |
| 19 | Elizabeth | 18,855 |
| 20 | Cheryl | 18,299 |
| 21 | Laura | 17,900 |
| 22 | Kimberly | 17,356 |
| 23 | Julie | 17,041 |
| 24 | Carol | 16,668 |
| 25 | Kathy | 16,384 |
| 26 | Diane | 16,204 |
| 27 | Robin | 15,651 |
| 28 | Tammy | 15,529 |
| 29 | Kathleen | 15,393 |
| 30 | Denise | 15,381 |
| 31 | Debbie | 14,883 |
| 32 | Janet | 13,932 |
| 33 | Cindy | 13,387 |
| 34 | Michelle | 12,743 |
| 35 | Theresa | 11,959 |
| 36 | Kim | 11,368 |
| 37 | Jacqueline | 10,981 |
| 38 | Angela | 10,841 |
| 39 | Christine | 10,596 |
| 40 | Margaret | 10,560 |
| 41 | Tina | 10,521 |
| 42 | Carolyn | 10,509 |
| 43 | Laurie | 10,433 |
| 44 | Rebecca | 10,237 |
| 45 | Kelly | 9,641 |
| 46 | Rhonda | 9,468 |
| 47 | Jennifer | 9,266 |
| 48 | Catherine | 9,250 |
| 49 | Dawn | 9,150 |
| 50 | Connie | 8,987 |
Boys
| # | Name | Babies |
|---|
| 1 | Michael | 86,968 |
| 2 | David | 84,805 |
| 3 | John | 79,973 |
| 4 | James | 75,959 |
| 5 | Robert | 72,963 |
| 6 | Mark | 57,786 |
| 7 | William | 48,035 |
| 8 | Richard | 41,140 |
| 9 | Thomas | 37,568 |
| 10 | Steven | 32,273 |
| 11 | Jeffrey | 32,028 |
| 12 | Joseph | 29,454 |
| 13 | Charles | 29,196 |
| 14 | Kevin | 28,919 |
| 15 | Timothy | 28,246 |
| 16 | Kenneth | 26,101 |
| 17 | Daniel | 25,898 |
| 18 | Paul | 25,641 |
| 19 | Scott | 23,941 |
| 20 | Brian | 22,562 |
| 21 | Gary | 22,168 |
| 22 | Donald | 21,409 |
| 23 | Gregory | 21,360 |
| 24 | Ronald | 20,841 |
| 25 | Anthony | 20,204 |
| 26 | Christopher | 17,216 |
| 27 | Stephen | 16,061 |
| 28 | Douglas | 15,971 |
| 29 | Edward | 15,876 |
| 30 | Larry | 14,581 |
| 31 | George | 13,645 |
| 32 | Terry | 13,190 |
| 33 | Randy | 12,600 |
| 34 | Dennis | 12,498 |
| 35 | Keith | 12,278 |
| 36 | Mike | 11,673 |
| 37 | Jerry | 11,377 |
| 38 | Eric | 11,114 |
| 39 | Patrick | 11,056 |
| 40 | Bruce | 10,704 |
| 41 | Frank | 10,432 |
| 42 | Peter | 10,346 |
| 43 | Craig | 10,233 |
| 44 | Ricky | 10,027 |
| 45 | Steve | 9,998 |
| 46 | Todd | 9,753 |
| 47 | Roger | 9,651 |
| 48 | Raymond | 9,613 |
| 49 | Jeff | 9,462 |
| 50 | Jeffery | 8,924 |