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The most popular baby names of 1961

SSA recorded 4,142,690 births in 1961 across all reported names — 2,018,495 girls and 2,124,195 boys.

Top 100 girls' names in 1961

Rank, births, and the change in rank against 1960.
#NameBirthsvs 1960
1 Mary 47,682 —
2 Lisa 42,720 +4
3 Susan 37,532 -1
4 Linda 35,597 -1
5 Karen 34,707 -1
6 Patricia 28,889 +1
7 Donna 28,679 -2
8 Cynthia 24,393 +1
9 Sandra 24,153 +2
10 Deborah 24,107 —
11 Brenda 23,781 +2
12 Barbara 23,002 —
13 Debra 22,160 -5
14 Lori 21,876 +6
15 Pamela 21,691 -1
16 Nancy 20,729 -1
17 Sharon 20,459 -1
18 Teresa 18,909 +1
19 Elizabeth 18,855 -1
20 Cheryl 18,301 -3
21 Laura 17,901 +4
22 Kimberly 17,355 +4
23 Julie 17,040 +5
24 Carol 16,667 -1
25 Kathy 16,385 -4
26 Diane 16,205 -4
27 Robin 15,653 +6
28 Tammy 15,532 +3
29 Kathleen 15,395 -2
30 Denise 15,379 -1
31 Debbie 14,882 -7
32 Janet 13,930 —
33 Cindy 13,388 -3
34 Michelle 12,741 +5
35 Theresa 11,960 —
36 Kim 11,367 -2
37 Jacqueline 10,983 +48
38 Angela 10,843 +12
39 Christine 10,598 +1
40 Margaret 10,559 -4
41 Tina 10,521 +4
42 Carolyn 10,509 +1
43 Laurie 10,435 -6
44 Rebecca 10,236 -6
45 Kelly 9,642 +7
46 Rhonda 9,469 -2
47 Jennifer 9,265 +14
48 Catherine 9,251 -6
49 Dawn 9,148 +8
50 Connie 8,986 -3
51 Terri 8,730 -2
52 Janice 8,727 -11
53 Sherry 8,361 +1
54 Ann 8,216 -3
55 Cathy 8,211 -9
56 Diana 8,198 -3
57 Maria 7,947 +2
58 Judy 7,922 -10
59 Sheila 7,805 -3
60 Paula 7,744 -5
61 Wendy 7,154 +2
62 Joyce 6,996 -4
63 Michele 6,995 +26
64 Tracy 6,988 +20
65 Beth 6,716 +7
66 Beverly 6,708 -6
67 Valerie 6,677 -2
68 Suzanne 6,611 +10
69 Amy 6,610 +8
70 Wanda 6,467 -4
71 Lynn 6,441 -7
72 Jane 6,365 -5
73 Annette 6,203 -11
74 Jill 6,137 +2
75 Bonnie 6,033 -4
76 Vicki 5,967 -3
77 Carla 5,817 +33
78 Stephanie 5,816 +13
79 Renee 5,782 +14
80 Darlene 5,728 -5
81 Martha 5,724 +2
82 Gloria 5,691 -3
83 Judith 5,690 -9
84 Leslie 5,668 +8
85 Shirley 5,638 -15
86 Katherine 5,632 -5
87 Betty 5,584 -19
88 Peggy 5,567 -19
89 Joan 5,551 -9
90 Anne 5,524 -2
91 Anita 5,503 -4
92 Jean 5,366 -6
93 Kathryn 5,226 -11
94 Gail 4,973 -4
95 Melissa 4,900 +14
96 Ruth 4,896 +1
97 Ellen 4,844 -3
98 Regina 4,764 +7
99 Dorothy 4,732 -4
100 Anna 4,678 +4

Top 100 boys' names in 1961

Rank, births, and the change in rank against 1960.
#NameBirthsvs 1960
1 Michael 86,974 +1
2 David 84,810 -1
3 John 79,983 +1
4 James 75,969 -1
5 Robert 72,977 —
6 Mark 57,796 —
7 William 48,045 —
8 Richard 41,142 —
9 Thomas 37,565 —
10 Steven 32,275 —
11 Jeffrey 32,029 +3
12 Joseph 29,450 —
13 Charles 29,194 —
14 Kevin 28,926 +1
15 Timothy 28,253 -4
16 Kenneth 26,100 —
17 Daniel 25,904 —
18 Paul 25,640 —
19 Scott 23,934 +4
20 Brian 22,566 —
21 Gary 22,174 +1
22 Donald 21,409 -3
23 Gregory 21,364 +1
24 Ronald 20,842 -3
25 Anthony 20,209 —
26 Christopher 17,223 +3
27 Stephen 16,069 —
28 Douglas 15,978 +2
29 Edward 15,877 -3
30 Larry 14,580 -2
31 George 13,644 +2
32 Terry 13,194 +2
33 Randy 12,603 -1
34 Dennis 12,503 -3
35 Keith 12,275 —
36 Mike 11,667 —
37 Jerry 11,381 —
38 Eric 11,111 +6
39 Patrick 11,052 +6
40 Bruce 10,705 -1
41 Frank 10,433 -1
42 Peter 10,349 —
43 Craig 10,235 -2
44 Ricky 10,027 -6
45 Steve 9,997 -2
46 Todd 9,750 +25
47 Roger 9,652 —
48 Raymond 9,618 -2
49 Jeff 9,463 —
50 Jeffery 8,923 +5
51 Alan 8,617 -1
52 Andrew 8,483 -1
53 Tony 8,306 -1
54 Danny 8,199 -6
55 Russell 7,333 +1
56 Carl 7,255 -3
57 Chris 7,203 +6
58 Dale 7,193 -4
59 Matthew 7,081 +2
60 Joe 7,056 -3
61 Wayne 6,762 -3
62 Gerald 6,630 —
63 Randall 6,587 -4
64 Glenn 6,271 +10
65 Tim 6,245 -5
66 Barry 6,220 +6
67 Lawrence 6,094 -3
68 Billy 6,026 -1
69 Phillip 5,976 -3
70 Johnny 5,905 -5
71 Jimmy 5,749 -2
72 Rodney 5,660 -4
73 Martin 5,476 +4
74 Walter 5,467 -4
75 Curtis 5,447 +4
76 Bobby 5,402 -3
77 Greg 5,397 +6
78 Jim 5,352 -3
79 Philip 5,288 -3
80 Darryl 5,134 +16
81 Jay 5,119 -3
82 Bryan 5,028 +6
83 Roy 4,966 -3
84 Dean 4,933 +10
85 Arthur 4,815 -3
86 Willie 4,790 -5
87 Bradley 4,745 +3
88 Tom 4,731 -2
89 Samuel 4,667 +2
90 Jack 4,639 -5
91 Ronnie 4,624 -4
92 Henry 4,620 -8
93 Jon 4,608 +4
94 Harold 4,448 -2
95 Ralph 4,443 -6
96 Allen 4,391 +3
97 Albert 4,324 -4
98 Vincent 4,317 —
99 Victor 4,301 +4
100 Troy 4,259 +62

Names that climbed fastest in 1961

Ranked by places gained against 1960, among names with at least 200 births in both years.

NameRank 1961Rank 1960Change
Angel girls 395 610 +215
Daphne girls 371 573 +202
Danielle girls 373 553 +180
Janna girls 564 703 +139
Letitia girls 579 718 +139
Cara girls 531 663 +132
Lesia girls 606 717 +111
Tod boys 351 457 +106
Shawna girls 602 705 +103
Juli girls 564 663 +99
Marylou girls 579 675 +96
Robby boys 454 547 +93
Caroline girls 176 254 +78
Chad boys 416 494 +78
Deena girls 518 595 +77

Names that fell fastest in 1961

NameRank 1961Rank 1960Change
Melodie girls 691 553 -138
Debi girls 645 509 -136
Ivy girls 715 604 -111
Marina girls 629 525 -104
Ava girls 631 532 -99
Dinah girls 670 573 -97
Roxane girls 682 590 -92
Ilene girls 685 597 -88
Lisha girls 682 597 -85
Twila girls 642 562 -80
Josie girls 640 561 -79
Suzan girls 660 581 -79
Gaye girls 688 610 -78
Gracie girls 620 545 -75
Reba girls 568 495 -73

Names that first appear in 1961

1961 is the earliest year these names clear the SSA reporting threshold of five births.

Names that peaked in 1961

For these names, 1961 is the single biggest year in the whole 1880–2025 record.