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The most popular baby names of 1956

SSA recorded 4,123,005 births in 1956 across all reported names — 2,007,703 girls and 2,115,302 boys.

Top 100 girls' names in 1956

Rank, births, and the change in rank against 1955.
#NameBirthsvs 1955
1 Mary 61,741 —
2 Debra 48,324 +2
3 Linda 48,084 —
4 Deborah 47,834 -2
5 Susan 46,558 —
6 Patricia 43,329 —
7 Karen 40,052 +1
8 Cynthia 32,339 +3
9 Barbara 32,302 -2
10 Donna 29,852 —
11 Nancy 28,784 -2
12 Pamela 26,928 —
13 Sharon 26,881 +3
14 Sandra 24,302 -1
15 Diane 22,518 -1
16 Carol 21,408 -1
17 Kathleen 21,377 —
18 Cheryl 21,278 +1
19 Brenda 19,341 -1
20 Kathy 17,177 +2
21 Janet 16,758 -1
22 Elizabeth 16,355 -1
23 Denise 14,509 —
24 Teresa 14,464 +2
25 Margaret 13,913 -1
26 Janice 13,017 -1
27 Rebecca 12,168 —
28 Catherine 12,056 —
29 Robin 11,621 +4
30 Joyce 11,091 -1
31 Lisa 11,012 +17
32 Theresa 10,841 +6
33 Carolyn 10,634 -3
34 Laura 10,570 +7
35 Judy 10,197 -3
36 Cathy 10,132 +8
37 Cindy 9,978 +42
38 Kim 9,897 +37
39 Debbie 9,863 +24
40 Beverly 9,449 -6
41 Shirley 9,429 -4
42 Christine 9,371 -2
43 Connie 9,361 -8
44 Betty 9,218 -8
45 Judith 9,115 -14
46 Ann 8,990 -3
47 Paula 8,925 -8
48 Julie 8,574 +19
49 Gail 8,435 -7
50 Jane 8,241 —
51 Bonnie 8,133 -6
52 Joan 8,080 -6
53 Gloria 7,927 -6
54 Sherry 7,898 +2
55 Sheila 7,872 +2
56 Diana 7,851 -1
57 Vicki 7,767 -5
58 Lynn 7,736 +4
59 Martha 7,711 -6
60 Kathryn 7,594 -1
61 Wanda 7,546 —
62 Rhonda 7,521 +9
63 Peggy 7,494 -12
64 Rose 7,337 -10
65 Jean 7,175 -5
66 Lori 7,145 +23
67 Katherine 7,082 -2
68 Vickie 6,957 —
69 Jo 6,953 -11
70 Marilyn 6,926 -21
71 Darlene 6,919 +5
72 Dorothy 6,858 -8
73 Maria 6,733 -4
74 Kimberly 6,730 +37
75 Virginia 6,392 -9
76 Laurie 6,207 +15
77 Ruth 6,075 -7
78 Jacqueline 6,062 -5
79 Rita 6,054 -7
80 Valerie 5,909 —
81 Terri 5,744 +4
82 Phyllis 5,642 -8
83 Anita 5,505 +11
84 Ellen 5,432 -3
85 Victoria 5,388 -3
86 Anne 5,356 -2
87 Tina 5,330 +45
88 Michelle 5,327 +9
89 Elaine 5,310 -12
90 Helen 5,278 -12
91 Terry 5,272 -8
92 Dawn 5,128 +11
93 Angela 5,034 +16
94 Suzanne 5,024 -8
95 Wendy 4,861 -5
96 Marie 4,794 -4
97 Jennifer 4,711 +7
98 Alice 4,680 -11
99 Joanne 4,671 -11
100 Michele 4,617 -7

Top 100 boys' names in 1956

Rank, births, and the change in rank against 1955.
#NameBirthsvs 1955
1 Michael 90,691 —
2 James 84,897 +1
3 Robert 83,924 +1
4 David 81,652 -2
5 John 80,804 —
6 William 58,991 —
7 Richard 52,915 —
8 Mark 48,828 +1
9 Thomas 44,836 -1
10 Steven 38,413 —
11 Charles 35,239 —
12 Joseph 32,749 +1
13 Gary 31,842 -1
14 Donald 28,223 —
15 Ronald 27,725 +3
16 Kenneth 27,432 -1
17 Paul 26,897 -1
18 Daniel 26,655 -1
19 Timothy 23,288 +3
20 Jeffrey 23,285 —
21 Larry 22,322 -2
22 Kevin 21,761 +5
23 Stephen 21,204 -2
24 Gregory 21,082 —
25 Edward 19,436 —
26 Dennis 18,359 -3
27 George 17,232 -1
28 Randy 16,547 +2
29 Douglas 16,389 —
30 Anthony 15,565 +1
31 Terry 15,064 -3
32 Brian 14,666 +8
33 Bruce 14,660 -1
34 Scott 13,214 +4
35 Jerry 12,623 -2
36 Keith 11,480 +3
37 Peter 11,334 -2
38 Frank 11,151 -4
39 Raymond 11,108 -3
40 Patrick 10,326 +1
41 Roger 10,153 -4
42 Lawrence 8,898 —
43 Ricky 8,780 +3
44 Alan 8,734 -1
45 Wayne 8,717 -1
46 Danny 8,565 -1
47 Christopher 8,384 +2
48 Carl 8,313 -1
49 Gerald 7,991 -1
50 Dale 7,720 +2
51 Craig 7,422 -1
52 Russell 7,402 +5
53 Walter 7,019 -2
54 Randall 6,913 -1
55 Johnny 6,636 —
56 Andrew 6,603 +10
57 Jeffery 6,569 +16
58 Willie 6,525 -4
59 Steve 6,472 +13
60 Arthur 6,289 -4
61 Glenn 6,196 -2
62 Roy 6,133 -4
63 Joe 6,124 +5
64 Philip 6,105 -2
65 Rodney 6,076 —
66 Jack 6,051 -6
67 Ralph 6,041 —
68 Billy 6,013 +1
69 Barry 5,988 +1
70 Stanley 5,985 -6
71 Henry 5,971 -10
72 Harold 5,955 -9
73 Martin 5,682 +4
74 Samuel 5,585 -3
75 Ronnie 5,491 +5
76 Phillip 5,414 -2
77 Bobby 5,358 -2
78 Jimmy 5,345 —
79 Eric 5,252 +6
80 Curtis 5,157 -1
81 Albert 5,150 -5
82 Louis 4,910 —
83 Micheal 4,732 +4
84 Howard 4,707 -1
85 Tony 4,669 +8
86 Eugene 4,620 -5
87 Allen 4,612 -3
88 Darrell 4,468 +3
89 Leonard 4,371 -1
90 Matthew 4,366 +15
91 Frederick 4,306 -5
92 Jay 4,120 +11
93 Eddie 3,994 -1
94 Ernest 3,952 -4
95 Harry 3,925 -6
96 Victor 3,908 +5
97 Mike 3,900 +26
98 Vincent 3,756 +1
99 Dean 3,712 +12
100 Rick 3,655 +9

Names that climbed fastest in 1956

Ranked by places gained against 1955, among names with at least 200 births in both years.

NameRank 1956Rank 1955Change
Lauri girls 521 652 +131
Doug boys 367 494 +127
Drew boys 338 459 +121
Sharlene girls 479 585 +106
Althea girls 475 580 +105
Kimberley girls 357 461 +104
Jodi girls 368 471 +103
Stacy girls 427 528 +101
Pam girls 302 402 +100
Chuck boys 413 511 +98
Natalie girls 353 446 +93
Lesa girls 535 628 +93
Candy girls 306 396 +90
Elisabeth girls 526 613 +87
Melodie girls 451 533 +82

Names that fell fastest in 1956

NameRank 1956Rank 1955Change
Shauna girls 661 540 -121
Lucia girls 642 541 -101
Mable girls 608 510 -98
Clarice girls 665 580 -85
Nelda girls 560 476 -84
Earnestine girls 589 519 -70
Myrtle girls 589 519 -70
Earlene girls 625 555 -70
Nan girls 645 575 -70
Carlene girls 541 473 -68
Maggie girls 553 485 -68
Desiree girls 373 309 -64
Bettie girls 611 548 -63
Elva girls 648 585 -63
Woodrow boys 497 437 -60

Names that first appear in 1956

1956 is the earliest year these names clear the SSA reporting threshold of five births.

Names that peaked in 1956

For these names, 1956 is the single biggest year in the whole 1880–2025 record.