Most Popular Baby Names of 1954

In 1954, Mary was the most popular name for girls, given to 68,019 babies, and Michael topped the boys' list with 88,568. Mary held on to number one for a second year in a row, and Michael took the top spot from Robert.

Social Security counted 1,941,915 girls and 2,038,751 boys born in 1954 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 6,625 different girls' names and 4,360 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1954

Top girls' names, 1954
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1953
1	Mary	68,019	same
2	Linda	55,371	same
3	Deborah	54,674	same
4	Patricia	49,149	same
5	Susan	47,162	same
6	Debra	45,896	up 1
7	Barbara	36,368	down 1
8	Karen	32,456	up 1
9	Nancy	30,270	down 1
10	Cynthia	27,615	up 2
11	Donna	27,429	up 2
12	Pamela	27,361	down 2
13	Sandra	26,061	down 2
14	Kathleen	22,455	same
15	Carol	22,247	up 1
16	Sharon	22,220	down 1
17	Diane	22,053	same
18	Brenda	19,609	same
19	Janet	18,477	same
20	Elizabeth	16,584	up 1
21	Margaret	15,226	down 1
22	Cheryl	15,015	up 6
23	Kathy	14,175	same
24	Denise	13,716	up 7
25	Janice	13,505	down 3
26	Rebecca	13,208	down 2
27	Carolyn	12,153	down 2
28	Joyce	12,088	down 2
29	Judy	11,632	down 2
30	Judith	11,195	same
31	Beverly	11,155	up 3
32	Catherine	11,079	up 3
33	Shirley	10,909	down 4
34	Teresa	10,841	up 8
35	Marilyn	10,814	up 1
36	Betty	10,620	down 3
37	Gail	9,726	up 2
38	Paula	9,686	up 2
39	Connie	9,636	up 8
40	Joan	9,521	down 3
41	Robin	9,044	up 25
42	Gloria	8,923	down 4
43	Christine	8,788	down 11
44	Ann	8,751	up 2
45	Laura	8,719	up 6
46	Martha	8,596	down 5
47	Theresa	8,509	up 3
48	Peggy	8,454	down 4
49	Jane	8,343	down 6
50	Vicki	8,221	up 11
51	Kathryn	8,137	down 3
52	Bonnie	8,099	down 7
53	Jo	8,052	up 1
54	Rose	7,996	up 5
55	Dorothy	7,789	down 6
56	Jean	7,665	down 4
57	Diana	7,624	down 2
58	Wanda	7,447	down 1
59	Cathy	7,207	down 3
60	Sheila	7,202	same
61	Virginia	7,176	down 8
62	Sherry	7,120	up 8
63	Lynn	6,780	up 4
64	Katherine	6,740	down 1
65	Maria	6,590	up 3
66	Ruth	6,566	down 4
67	Rita	6,536	down 3
68	Jacqueline	6,522	down 10
69	Vickie	6,367	up 10
70	Julie	6,275	up 4
71	Rhonda	6,100	up 14
72	Helen	5,947	down 7
73	Lisa	5,913	up 38
74	Elaine	5,825	up 3
75	Phyllis	5,763	down 6
76	Darlene	5,510	down 1
77	Ellen	5,457	down 1
78	Joanne	5,435	down 7
79	Marie	5,310	up 7
80	Anne	5,298	same
81	Alice	5,271	down 8
82	Suzanne	5,236	down 4
83	Frances	5,153	down 11
84	Sally	5,078	down 3
85	Victoria	4,978	down 3
86	Marsha	4,966	down 3
87	Valerie	4,917	up 1
88	Terry	4,787	up 29
89	Michele	4,763	up 13
90	Marcia	4,744	down 6
91	Cindy	4,714	up 8
92	Debbie	4,664	up 27
93	Doris	4,457	down 6
94	Michelle	4,432	up 13
95	Wendy	4,415	up 15
96	Anita	4,408	down 7
97	Maureen	4,370	down 5
98	Laurie	4,290	up 5
99	Leslie	4,147	down 3
100	Terri	4,130	up 30

Top boys' names, 1954
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1953
1	Michael	88,568	up 2
2	Robert	86,331	down 1
3	James	86,311	down 1
4	John	81,168	same
5	David	79,556	same
6	William	61,426	same
7	Richard	57,042	same
8	Thomas	47,159	same
9	Gary	37,920	up 1
10	Charles	37,463	down 1
11	Steven	36,628	same
12	Mark	36,198	same
13	Joseph	31,221	same
14	Donald	29,279	same
15	Ronald	27,625	same
16	Paul	26,220	same
17	Kenneth	26,186	same
18	Daniel	25,275	up 2
19	Larry	24,614	down 1
20	Stephen	21,878	up 1
21	Dennis	20,758	down 2
22	Edward	19,493	up 1
23	Jeffrey	19,052	up 2
24	George	18,704	down 2
25	Gregory	17,625	down 1
26	Timothy	17,427	same
27	Terry	15,553	up 3
28	Kevin	15,322	up 8
29	Douglas	14,703	down 2
30	Bruce	14,155	down 2
31	Jerry	13,681	down 2
32	Anthony	13,124	same
33	Randy	12,638	up 2
34	Roger	11,717	down 3
35	Raymond	11,242	down 1
36	Frank	10,995	down 3
37	Peter	10,085	up 1
38	Patrick	9,927	up 1
39	Lawrence	9,606	down 2
40	Scott	9,457	up 6
41	Wayne	9,175	down 1
42	Danny	9,103	down 1
43	Alan	8,711	same
44	Gerald	8,552	down 2
45	Keith	8,355	up 2
46	Ricky	8,164	up 5
47	Carl	8,137	down 3
48	Brian	8,078	up 5
49	Walter	7,486	down 4
50	Dale	7,439	down 2
51	Craig	7,180	up 9
52	Arthur	6,856	down 2
53	Willie	6,832	down 4
54	Johnny	6,613	down 2
55	Randall	6,549	up 9
56	Roy	6,513	down 1
57	Jack	6,475	same
58	Stanley	6,448	up 4
59	Henry	6,402	down 5
60	Harold	6,359	down 4
61	Ralph	6,311	down 2
62	Philip	6,279	down 1
63	Glenn	6,240	up 4
64	Christopher	6,084	down 1
65	Billy	6,033	same
66	Rodney	5,959	down 8
67	Joe	5,873	down 1
68	Barry	5,844	up 5
69	Russell	5,761	up 2
70	Andrew	5,653	down 2
71	Samuel	5,634	down 1
72	Bobby	5,507	up 2
73	Albert	5,428	down 4
74	Jimmy	5,327	down 2
75	Phillip	5,149	up 1
76	Steve	5,062	up 8
77	Eugene	5,033	down 2
78	Ronnie	4,978	up 1
79	Martin	4,968	up 3
80	Howard	4,933	down 3
81	Louis	4,848	down 3
82	Allen	4,832	down 1
83	Frederick	4,743	down 3
84	Curtis	4,594	up 2
85	Leonard	4,482	same
86	Harry	4,354	down 3
87	Ernest	4,202	same
88	Micheal	4,178	same
89	Eric	4,169	same
90	Jeffery	3,935	up 19
91	Eddie	3,766	up 6
92	Melvin	3,711	down 1
93	Fred	3,695	down 1
94	Francis	3,686	down 4
95	Darrell	3,643	up 8
96	Lee	3,566	down 3
97	Marvin	3,498	down 3
98	Earl	3,424	down 2
99	Norman	3,417	down 1
100	Tommy	3,407	down 5

Biggest climbers in 1954

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1953.

Girls

Kimberlee: up 229 places, from 992nd to 763rd
Lesa: up 220 places, from 961st to 741st
Stacey: up 210 places, from 695th to 485th
Mara: up 191 places, from 892nd to 701st
Shawn: up 190 places, from 694th to 504th
Tara: up 189 places, from 745th to 556th
Kelly: up 184 places, from 590th to 406th
Tracey: up 171 places, from 657th to 486th
Marina: up 165 places, from 732nd to 567th
Phoebe: up 159 places, from 984th to 825th

Boys

Cory: up 277 places, from 905th to 628th
Marlon: up 267 places, from 777th to 510th
Dirk: up 246 places, from 587th to 341st
Corey: up 194 places, from 800th to 606th
Faron: up 185 places, from 982nd to 797th
Jared: up 176 places, from 929th to 753rd
Bret: up 173 places, from 968th to 795th
Russ: up 157 places, from 956th to 799th
Richie: up 157 places, from 998th to 841st
Duke: up 155 places, from 991st to 836th

New to the top 1,000 in 1954

Girls

Sheree, 323rd (its first time ever)
Erin, 702nd (back after dropping out)
Joellen, 792nd (back after dropping out)
Sabrina, 805th (its first time ever)
Valinda, 809th (its first time ever)
Milagros, 820th (back after dropping out)
Sherie, 830th (its first time ever)
Starla, 863rd (its first time ever)
Merri, 876th (its first time ever)
Ursula, 882nd (back after dropping out)

Boys

Ricci, 741st (its first time ever)
Dusty, 754th (its first time ever)
Debra, 764th (its first time ever)
Dino, 765th (back after dropping out)
Britt, 774th (back after dropping out)
Rock, 792nd (its first time ever)
Michale, 805th (back after dropping out)
Keven, 812th (its first time ever)
Gavin, 830th (its first time ever)
Carmelo, 842nd (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1954?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 23% of the girls counted in 1954, and the top ten boys' names to 32.5% of the boys. In 1934, those shares were 23.4% for girls and 33.3% 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.