Most Popular Baby Names of 1956

In 1956, Mary was the most popular name for girls, given to 61,741 babies, and Michael topped the boys' list with 90,691. Mary held on to number one for a fourth year in a row, and Michael held on to number one for a third year in a row.

Social Security counted 2,007,703 girls and 2,115,302 boys born in 1956 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 6,891 different girls' names and 4,455 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1956

Top girls' names, 1956
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1955
1	Mary	61,741	same
2	Debra	48,324	up 2
3	Linda	48,084	same
4	Deborah	47,834	down 2
5	Susan	46,558	same
6	Patricia	43,329	same
7	Karen	40,052	up 1
8	Cynthia	32,339	up 3
9	Barbara	32,302	down 2
10	Donna	29,852	same
11	Nancy	28,784	down 2
12	Pamela	26,928	same
13	Sharon	26,881	up 3
14	Sandra	24,302	down 1
15	Diane	22,518	down 1
16	Carol	21,408	down 1
17	Kathleen	21,377	same
18	Cheryl	21,278	up 1
19	Brenda	19,341	down 1
20	Kathy	17,177	up 2
21	Janet	16,758	down 1
22	Elizabeth	16,355	down 1
23	Denise	14,509	same
24	Teresa	14,464	up 2
25	Margaret	13,913	down 1
26	Janice	13,017	down 1
27	Rebecca	12,168	same
28	Catherine	12,056	same
29	Robin	11,621	up 4
30	Joyce	11,091	down 1
31	Lisa	11,012	up 17
32	Theresa	10,841	up 6
33	Carolyn	10,634	down 3
34	Laura	10,570	up 7
35	Judy	10,197	down 3
36	Cathy	10,132	up 8
37	Cindy	9,978	up 42
38	Kim	9,897	up 37
39	Debbie	9,863	up 24
40	Beverly	9,449	down 6
41	Shirley	9,429	down 4
42	Christine	9,371	down 2
43	Connie	9,361	down 8
44	Betty	9,218	down 8
45	Judith	9,115	down 14
46	Ann	8,990	down 3
47	Paula	8,925	down 8
48	Julie	8,574	up 19
49	Gail	8,435	down 7
50	Jane	8,241	same
51	Bonnie	8,133	down 6
52	Joan	8,080	down 6
53	Gloria	7,927	down 6
54	Sherry	7,898	up 2
55	Sheila	7,872	up 2
56	Diana	7,851	down 1
57	Vicki	7,767	down 5
58	Lynn	7,736	up 4
59	Martha	7,711	down 6
60	Kathryn	7,594	down 1
61	Wanda	7,546	same
62	Rhonda	7,521	up 9
63	Peggy	7,494	down 12
64	Rose	7,337	down 10
65	Jean	7,175	down 5
66	Lori	7,145	up 23
67	Katherine	7,082	down 2
68	Vickie	6,957	same
69	Jo	6,953	down 11
70	Marilyn	6,926	down 21
71	Darlene	6,919	up 5
72	Dorothy	6,858	down 8
73	Maria	6,733	down 4
74	Kimberly	6,730	up 37
75	Virginia	6,392	down 9
76	Laurie	6,207	up 15
77	Ruth	6,075	down 7
78	Jacqueline	6,062	down 5
79	Rita	6,054	down 7
80	Valerie	5,909	same
81	Terri	5,744	up 4
82	Phyllis	5,642	down 8
83	Anita	5,505	up 11
84	Ellen	5,432	down 3
85	Victoria	5,388	down 3
86	Anne	5,356	down 2
87	Tina	5,330	up 45
88	Michelle	5,327	up 9
89	Elaine	5,310	down 12
90	Helen	5,278	down 12
91	Terry	5,272	down 8
92	Dawn	5,128	up 11
93	Angela	5,034	up 16
94	Suzanne	5,024	down 8
95	Wendy	4,861	down 5
96	Marie	4,794	down 4
97	Jennifer	4,711	up 7
98	Alice	4,680	down 11
99	Joanne	4,671	down 11
100	Michele	4,617	down 7

Top boys' names, 1956
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1955
1	Michael	90,691	same
2	James	84,897	up 1
3	Robert	83,924	up 1
4	David	81,652	down 2
5	John	80,804	same
6	William	58,991	same
7	Richard	52,915	same
8	Mark	48,828	up 1
9	Thomas	44,836	down 1
10	Steven	38,413	same
11	Charles	35,239	same
12	Joseph	32,749	up 1
13	Gary	31,842	down 1
14	Donald	28,223	same
15	Ronald	27,725	up 3
16	Kenneth	27,432	down 1
17	Paul	26,897	down 1
18	Daniel	26,655	down 1
19	Timothy	23,288	up 3
20	Jeffrey	23,285	same
21	Larry	22,322	down 2
22	Kevin	21,761	up 5
23	Stephen	21,204	down 2
24	Gregory	21,082	same
25	Edward	19,436	same
26	Dennis	18,359	down 3
27	George	17,232	down 1
28	Randy	16,547	up 2
29	Douglas	16,389	same
30	Anthony	15,565	up 1
31	Terry	15,064	down 3
32	Brian	14,666	up 8
33	Bruce	14,660	down 1
34	Scott	13,214	up 4
35	Jerry	12,623	down 2
36	Keith	11,480	up 3
37	Peter	11,334	down 2
38	Frank	11,151	down 4
39	Raymond	11,108	down 3
40	Patrick	10,326	up 1
41	Roger	10,153	down 4
42	Lawrence	8,898	same
43	Ricky	8,780	up 3
44	Alan	8,734	down 1
45	Wayne	8,717	down 1
46	Danny	8,565	down 1
47	Christopher	8,384	up 2
48	Carl	8,313	down 1
49	Gerald	7,991	down 1
50	Dale	7,720	up 2
51	Craig	7,422	down 1
52	Russell	7,402	up 5
53	Walter	7,019	down 2
54	Randall	6,913	down 1
55	Johnny	6,636	same
56	Andrew	6,603	up 10
57	Jeffery	6,569	up 16
58	Willie	6,525	down 4
59	Steve	6,472	up 13
60	Arthur	6,289	down 4
61	Glenn	6,196	down 2
62	Roy	6,133	down 4
63	Joe	6,124	up 5
64	Philip	6,105	down 2
65	Rodney	6,076	same
66	Jack	6,051	down 6
67	Ralph	6,041	same
68	Billy	6,013	up 1
69	Barry	5,988	up 1
70	Stanley	5,985	down 6
71	Henry	5,971	down 10
72	Harold	5,955	down 9
73	Martin	5,682	up 4
74	Samuel	5,585	down 3
75	Ronnie	5,491	up 5
76	Phillip	5,414	down 2
77	Bobby	5,358	down 2
78	Jimmy	5,345	same
79	Eric	5,252	up 6
80	Curtis	5,157	down 1
81	Albert	5,150	down 5
82	Louis	4,910	same
83	Micheal	4,732	up 4
84	Howard	4,707	down 1
85	Tony	4,669	up 8
86	Eugene	4,620	down 5
87	Allen	4,612	down 3
88	Darrell	4,468	up 3
89	Leonard	4,371	down 1
90	Matthew	4,366	up 15
91	Frederick	4,306	down 5
92	Jay	4,120	up 11
93	Eddie	3,994	down 1
94	Ernest	3,952	down 4
95	Harry	3,925	down 6
96	Victor	3,908	up 5
97	Mike	3,900	up 26
98	Vincent	3,756	up 1
99	Dean	3,712	up 12
100	Rick	3,655	up 9

Biggest climbers in 1956

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1955.

Girls

Cindi: up 288 places, from 907th to 619th
Kerri: up 258 places, from 945th to 687th
Kendra: up 209 places, from 832nd to 623rd
Sandi: up 195 places, from 993rd to 798th
Erin: up 181 places, from 715th to 534th
Jaye: up 179 places, from 913th to 734th
Dina: up 175 places, from 844th to 669th
Debi: up 174 places, from 863rd to 689th
Cherrie: up 172 places, from 989th to 817th
Caryl: up 154 places, from 883rd to 729th

Boys

Elvis: up 561 places, from 923rd to 362nd
Les: up 278 places, from 980th to 702nd
Dino: up 250 places, from 793rd to 543rd
Clint: up 210 places, from 681st to 471st
Wyatt: up 190 places, from 659th to 469th
Erick: up 188 places, from 945th to 757th
Michale: up 184 places, from 999th to 815th
Keven: up 173 places, from 828th to 655th
Russ: up 163 places, from 751st to 588th
Kelley: up 150 places, from 859th to 709th

New to the top 1,000 in 1956

Girls

Leesa, 525th (its first time ever)
Marisa, 531st (its first time ever)
Dawna, 627th (its first time ever)
Kelley, 783rd (its first time ever)
Tracie, 791st (its first time ever)
Valencia, 812th (back after dropping out)
Dani, 846th (its first time ever)
Sheena, 849th (its first time ever)
Starr, 860th (back after dropping out)
Candis, 862nd (back after dropping out)

Boys

Broderick, 683rd (its first time ever)
Stefan, 807th (back after dropping out)
Derwin, 811th (its first time ever)
Chet, 836th (its first time ever)
Quintin, 852nd (its first time ever)
Paris, 858th (back after dropping out)
Alvis, 860th (back after dropping out)
Timmie, 864th (its first time ever)
Alec, 865th (back after dropping out)
Karen, 883rd (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1956?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 21.4% of the girls counted in 1956, and the top ten boys' names to 31.5% of the boys. In 1936, those shares were 24.2% 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.