Most Popular Baby Names of 1953

In 1953, Mary was the most popular name for girls, given to 64,389 babies, and Robert topped the boys' list with 86,243. Mary took the top spot from Linda, and Robert took the top spot from James.

Social Security counted 1,881,301 girls and 1,972,299 boys born in 1953 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 6,497 different girls' names and 4,341 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1953

Top girls' names, 1953
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1952
1	Mary	64,389	up 1
2	Linda	61,281	down 1
3	Deborah	52,199	up 1
4	Patricia	51,019	down 1
5	Susan	44,297	same
6	Barbara	38,473	same
7	Debra	36,856	up 2
8	Nancy	30,620	down 1
9	Karen	29,858	down 1
10	Pamela	25,760	up 7
11	Sandra	25,500	down 1
12	Cynthia	25,140	up 6
13	Donna	24,227	same
14	Kathleen	23,731	down 3
15	Sharon	23,040	down 1
16	Carol	22,290	down 4
17	Diane	21,351	down 1
18	Brenda	20,122	down 3
19	Janet	17,771	same
20	Margaret	16,195	up 1
21	Elizabeth	16,099	up 1
22	Janice	14,627	up 1
23	Kathy	13,400	up 6
24	Rebecca	12,959	up 6
25	Carolyn	12,919	down 1
26	Joyce	12,796	up 1
27	Judy	12,735	down 1
28	Cheryl	12,264	up 3
29	Shirley	12,148	down 1
30	Judith	11,969	down 5
31	Denise	11,950	up 2
32	Christine	11,793	down 12
33	Betty	11,369	down 1
34	Beverly	11,240	up 1
35	Catherine	10,849	down 1
36	Marilyn	10,742	up 2
37	Joan	9,774	same
38	Gloria	9,680	down 2
39	Gail	9,585	same
40	Paula	9,557	up 7
41	Martha	9,263	down 1
42	Teresa	8,932	up 10
43	Jane	8,913	down 1
44	Peggy	8,762	down 1
45	Bonnie	8,615	down 4
46	Ann	8,579	down 1
47	Connie	8,575	down 3
48	Kathryn	8,324	same
49	Dorothy	8,162	down 3
50	Theresa	7,715	up 10
51	Laura	7,628	up 2
52	Jean	7,571	down 2
53	Virginia	7,546	down 4
54	Jo	7,513	up 1
55	Diana	7,438	down 4
56	Cathy	7,301	same
57	Wanda	7,203	down 3
58	Jacqueline	7,128	same
59	Rose	7,004	up 3
60	Sheila	6,965	up 4
61	Vicki	6,821	same
62	Ruth	6,582	down 5
63	Katherine	6,559	down 4
64	Rita	6,284	up 2
65	Helen	6,123	down 2
66	Robin	6,037	up 36
67	Lynn	5,997	up 4
68	Maria	5,992	up 4
69	Phyllis	5,961	down 4
70	Sherry	5,935	down 2
71	Joanne	5,890	up 7
72	Frances	5,786	down 5
73	Alice	5,740	down 4
74	Julie	5,668	up 11
75	Darlene	5,591	up 2
76	Ellen	5,537	down 6
77	Elaine	5,496	down 4
78	Suzanne	5,472	up 6
79	Vickie	5,297	down 3
80	Anne	5,256	down 1
81	Sally	5,183	same
82	Victoria	5,164	down 8
83	Marsha	5,131	down 8
84	Marcia	5,062	down 4
85	Rhonda	5,029	up 10
86	Marie	4,955	down 4
87	Doris	4,900	down 4
88	Valerie	4,591	down 1
89	Anita	4,407	up 2
90	Roberta	4,299	down 2
91	Lois	4,219	down 5
92	Maureen	4,112	up 2
93	Sarah	4,086	same
94	Evelyn	4,064	down 4
95	Constance	4,030	down 3
96	Leslie	3,904	up 8
97	Jeanne	3,853	up 1
98	Anna	3,837	up 3
99	Cindy	3,825	up 41
100	Charlotte	3,813	down 11

Top boys' names, 1953
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1952
1	Robert	86,243	up 1
2	James	86,066	down 1
3	Michael	84,198	up 1
4	John	80,165	down 1
5	David	76,119	same
6	William	61,829	same
7	Richard	58,389	same
8	Thomas	47,008	same
9	Charles	38,421	same
10	Gary	36,967	same
11	Steven	33,721	same
12	Mark	29,341	up 5
13	Joseph	29,269	down 1
14	Donald	28,361	down 1
15	Ronald	27,713	same
16	Paul	25,509	up 3
17	Kenneth	25,507	down 1
18	Larry	25,208	down 4
19	Dennis	23,658	down 1
20	Daniel	23,498	same
21	Stephen	21,807	same
22	George	19,176	same
23	Edward	18,984	same
24	Gregory	16,160	same
25	Jeffrey	15,949	up 6
26	Timothy	15,187	up 1
27	Douglas	14,138	up 1
28	Bruce	14,048	down 3
29	Jerry	13,901	down 3
30	Terry	13,259	down 1
31	Roger	13,172	down 1
32	Anthony	11,693	up 2
33	Frank	11,180	down 1
34	Raymond	11,110	down 1
35	Randy	10,666	up 6
36	Kevin	10,011	up 7
37	Lawrence	9,856	down 2
38	Peter	9,729	down 2
39	Patrick	9,468	down 2
40	Wayne	8,905	down 2
41	Danny	8,627	down 1
42	Gerald	8,619	down 3
43	Alan	8,454	down 1
44	Carl	7,829	up 1
45	Walter	7,509	down 1
46	Scott	7,489	up 8
47	Keith	7,375	up 2
48	Dale	7,350	down 2
49	Willie	7,056	down 1
50	Arthur	7,001	down 3
51	Ricky	6,887	up 30
52	Johnny	6,717	up 1
53	Brian	6,665	up 11
54	Henry	6,662	down 4
55	Roy	6,655	same
56	Harold	6,580	down 5
57	Jack	6,540	down 5
58	Rodney	6,536	up 26
59	Ralph	6,513	down 3
60	Craig	6,459	down 1
61	Philip	6,279	down 1
62	Stanley	6,275	down 4
63	Christopher	6,081	down 6
64	Randall	5,973	down 1
65	Billy	5,856	same
66	Joe	5,797	down 4
67	Glenn	5,726	down 6
68	Andrew	5,626	same
69	Albert	5,439	down 3
70	Samuel	5,423	down 3
71	Russell	5,374	down 1
72	Jimmy	5,310	same
73	Barry	5,182	down 4
74	Bobby	5,179	up 3
75	Eugene	5,147	down 4
76	Phillip	5,103	down 2
77	Howard	4,985	down 4
78	Louis	4,985	up 1
79	Ronnie	4,970	up 3
80	Frederick	4,865	down 4
81	Allen	4,854	down 3
82	Martin	4,778	down 2
83	Harry	4,580	down 8
84	Steve	4,539	up 1
85	Leonard	4,412	down 2
86	Curtis	4,353	same
87	Ernest	4,095	same
88	Micheal	3,987	up 6
89	Eric	3,929	down 1
90	Francis	3,875	down 1
91	Melvin	3,811	same
92	Fred	3,789	down 2
93	Lee	3,583	down 1
94	Marvin	3,564	up 1
95	Tommy	3,469	up 2
96	Earl	3,437	up 2
97	Eddie	3,417	down 4
98	Norman	3,372	down 2
99	Jay	3,235	up 7
100	Vincent	3,174	up 1

Biggest climbers in 1953

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1952.

Girls

Luann: up 390 places, from 619th to 229th
Luanne: up 283 places, from 631st to 348th
Bobbi: up 240 places, from 898th to 658th
Jodi: up 216 places, from 813th to 597th
Pamella: up 210 places, from 995th to 785th
Kimberley: up 189 places, from 838th to 649th
Shauna: up 181 places, from 845th to 664th
Rachael: up 178 places, from 944th to 766th
Luz: up 172 places, from 910th to 738th
Nancie: up 161 places, from 980th to 819th

Boys

Mikel: up 171 places, from 684th to 513th
Jed: up 171 places, from 874th to 703rd
Rob: up 153 places, from 937th to 784th
Johnathan: up 150 places, from 965th to 815th
Trent: up 146 places, from 904th to 758th
Gonzalo: up 145 places, from 988th to 843rd
Ricki: up 141 places, from 737th to 596th
Benedict: up 141 places, from 879th to 738th
Shawn: up 139 places, from 509th to 370th
Alvis: up 135 places, from 968th to 833rd

New to the top 1,000 in 1953

Girls

Joni, 297th (its first time ever)
Lu, 484th (back after dropping out)
Louann, 518th (back after dropping out)
Robbin, 637th (its first time ever)
Venita, 746th (back after dropping out)
Cindi, 764th (its first time ever)
Tricia, 786th (its first time ever)
Brooke, 798th (its first time ever)
Jenifer, 865th (back after dropping out)
Petra, 880th (back after dropping out)

Boys

Shane, 524th (its first time ever)
Wilfredo, 772nd (its first time ever)
Davey, 836th (back after dropping out)
Robbin, 846th (its first time ever)
Shaun, 847th (back after dropping out)
Esteban, 869th (back after dropping out)
Kraig, 880th (its first time ever)
Levon, 881st (back after dropping out)
Delton, 890th (back after dropping out)
Greggory, 900th (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1953?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 23.1% of the girls counted in 1953, and the top ten boys' names to 33.2% of the boys. In 1933, those shares were 22.8% for girls and 33.4% for boys.

Source: Social Security Administration, national baby name data, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.