Most Popular Baby Names of 1957

In 1957, Mary was the most popular name for girls, given to 61,102 babies, and Michael topped the boys' list with 92,781. Mary held on to number one for a fifth year in a row, and Michael held on to number one for a fourth year in a row.

Social Security counted 2,044,851 girls and 2,157,236 boys born in 1957 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 7,015 different girls' names and 4,552 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1957

Top girls' names, 1957
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1956
1	Mary	61,102	same
2	Susan	45,954	up 3
3	Linda	44,517	same
4	Debra	42,728	down 2
5	Karen	40,591	up 2
6	Deborah	40,096	down 2
7	Cynthia	39,340	up 1
8	Patricia	39,283	down 2
9	Barbara	29,692	same
10	Donna	28,042	same
11	Nancy	27,515	same
12	Pamela	25,015	same
13	Brenda	24,339	up 6
14	Sharon	24,298	down 1
15	Sandra	22,765	down 1
16	Cheryl	22,643	up 2
17	Diane	22,090	down 2
18	Carol	21,898	down 2
19	Cindy	20,272	up 18
20	Kathy	20,237	same
21	Kathleen	19,742	down 4
22	Elizabeth	17,492	same
23	Janet	15,753	down 2
24	Teresa	15,687	same
25	Denise	15,145	down 2
26	Lisa	15,142	up 5
27	Debbie	14,382	up 12
28	Julie	13,631	up 20
29	Margaret	13,013	down 4
30	Robin	12,579	down 1
31	Laura	12,181	up 3
32	Janice	11,968	down 6
33	Carolyn	11,575	same
34	Rebecca	11,482	down 7
35	Kim	11,426	up 3
36	Theresa	11,188	down 4
37	Catherine	11,151	down 9
38	Judy	10,542	down 3
39	Cathy	10,325	down 3
40	Joyce	10,155	down 10
41	Christine	9,575	up 1
42	Kimberly	9,454	up 32
43	Diana	9,433	up 13
44	Ann	9,040	up 2
45	Lori	8,964	up 21
46	Shirley	8,855	down 5
47	Connie	8,765	down 4
48	Beverly	8,560	down 8
49	Paula	8,544	down 2
50	Betty	8,479	down 6
51	Vicki	8,105	up 6
52	Rhonda	8,051	up 10
53	Judith	8,024	down 8
54	Gail	7,952	down 5
55	Sherry	7,804	down 1
56	Jane	7,788	down 6
57	Darlene	7,784	up 14
58	Sheila	7,763	down 3
59	Wanda	7,713	up 2
60	Joan	7,584	down 8
61	Lynn	7,442	down 3
62	Peggy	7,383	up 1
63	Martha	7,361	down 4
64	Bonnie	7,242	down 13
65	Kathryn	7,211	down 5
66	Gloria	7,123	down 13
67	Jean	7,048	down 2
68	Terri	6,972	up 13
69	Rose	6,896	down 5
70	Vickie	6,845	down 2
71	Maria	6,778	up 2
72	Katherine	6,637	down 5
73	Laurie	6,543	up 3
74	Dorothy	6,405	down 2
75	Virginia	6,238	same
76	Valerie	6,231	up 4
77	Leslie	6,103	up 27
78	Rita	6,018	up 1
79	Michelle	5,982	up 9
80	Tina	5,857	up 7
81	Anita	5,811	up 2
82	Marilyn	5,743	down 12
83	Jo	5,718	down 14
84	Ruth	5,667	down 7
85	Ellen	5,589	down 1
86	Anne	5,486	same
87	Jennifer	5,483	up 10
88	Victoria	5,328	down 3
89	Angela	5,326	up 4
90	Phyllis	5,306	down 8
91	Jacqueline	5,288	down 13
92	Terry	5,266	down 1
93	Dawn	5,159	down 1
94	Joanne	5,110	up 5
95	Helen	5,019	down 5
96	Elaine	5,013	down 7
97	Annette	4,888	up 22
98	Marie	4,862	down 2
99	Michele	4,746	up 1
100	Jill	4,729	up 1

Top boys' names, 1957
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1956
1	Michael	92,781	same
2	James	84,337	same
3	David	82,403	up 1
4	Robert	81,765	down 1
5	John	79,033	same
6	William	56,852	same
7	Mark	52,841	up 1
8	Richard	52,446	down 1
9	Thomas	44,625	same
10	Steven	36,842	same
11	Charles	34,283	same
12	Joseph	31,851	same
13	Gary	29,530	same
14	Kenneth	28,064	up 2
15	Donald	27,910	down 1
16	Daniel	27,337	up 2
17	Ronald	27,209	down 2
18	Paul	27,012	down 1
19	Timothy	24,733	same
20	Kevin	24,285	up 2
21	Jeffrey	23,982	down 1
22	Larry	21,941	down 1
23	Gregory	21,472	up 1
24	Stephen	19,726	down 1
25	Edward	18,711	same
26	Brian	17,519	up 6
27	Anthony	17,057	up 3
28	Dennis	16,917	down 2
29	George	16,887	down 2
30	Douglas	16,730	down 1
31	Randy	16,464	down 3
32	Scott	15,750	up 2
33	Terry	15,624	down 2
34	Bruce	13,882	down 1
35	Jerry	13,283	same
36	Keith	12,437	same
37	Peter	11,603	same
38	Frank	11,268	same
39	Raymond	10,810	same
40	Ricky	10,574	up 3
41	Patrick	10,353	down 1
42	Roger	9,866	down 1
43	Christopher	8,997	up 4
44	Steve	8,910	up 15
45	Danny	8,820	up 1
46	Lawrence	8,741	down 4
47	Wayne	8,687	down 2
48	Alan	8,208	down 4
49	Carl	8,192	down 1
50	Dale	7,866	same
51	Gerald	7,595	down 2
52	Jeffery	7,508	up 5
53	Mike	7,247	up 44
54	Russell	7,223	down 2
55	Craig	7,069	down 4
56	Andrew	6,997	same
57	Joe	6,767	up 6
58	Walter	6,707	down 5
59	Randall	6,675	down 5
60	Eric	6,621	up 19
61	Johnny	6,507	down 6
62	Glenn	6,267	down 1
63	Willie	6,211	down 5
64	Billy	6,146	up 4
65	Roy	6,063	down 3
66	Arthur	6,052	down 6
67	Jack	6,024	down 1
68	Philip	6,012	down 4
69	Martin	5,965	up 4
70	Rodney	5,862	down 5
71	Tony	5,857	up 14
72	Barry	5,790	down 3
73	Ronnie	5,778	up 2
74	Harold	5,752	down 2
75	Henry	5,733	down 4
76	Ralph	5,709	down 9
77	Jimmy	5,667	up 1
78	Bobby	5,617	down 1
79	Phillip	5,544	down 3
80	Curtis	5,342	same
81	Stanley	5,268	down 11
82	Samuel	5,236	down 8
83	Matthew	5,234	up 7
84	Albert	5,049	down 3
85	Micheal	4,831	down 2
86	Louis	4,695	down 4
87	Rick	4,663	up 13
88	Jay	4,630	up 4
89	Howard	4,614	down 5
90	Darrell	4,570	down 2
91	Allen	4,412	down 4
92	Eugene	4,410	down 6
93	Dean	4,387	up 6
94	Leonard	4,340	down 5
95	Eddie	4,112	down 2
96	Jeff	4,092	up 49
97	Vincent	4,083	up 1
98	Victor	4,080	down 2
99	Frederick	4,010	down 8
100	Harry	3,806	down 5

Biggest climbers in 1957

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1956.

Girls

Tami: up 569 places, from 884th to 315th
Tammy: up 486 places, from 593rd to 107th
Leisa: up 365 places, from 938th to 573rd
Liz: up 349 places, from 931st to 582nd
Barb: up 314 places, from 879th to 565th
Bernadine: up 311 places, from 772nd to 461st
Kelli: up 302 places, from 871st to 569th
Ginny: up 261 places, from 910th to 649th
Erin: up 260 places, from 534th to 274th
Juli: up 236 places, from 982nd to 746th

Boys

Mitch: up 332 places, from 872nd to 540th
Bret: up 275 places, from 831st to 556th
Rich: up 239 places, from 896th to 657th
Britt: up 208 places, from 940th to 732nd
Tab: up 207 places, from 905th to 698th
Von: up 202 places, from 945th to 743rd
Art: up 195 places, from 833rd to 638th
Jordan: up 193 places, from 732nd to 539th
Kirt: up 189 places, from 879th to 690th
Jame: up 186 places, from 996th to 810th

New to the top 1,000 in 1957

Girls

Tammie, 364th (its first time ever)
Tamera, 617th (its first time ever)
Tamra, 627th (its first time ever)
Traci, 655th (its first time ever)
Tammi, 753rd (its first time ever)
Deb, 761st (its first time ever)
Miranda, 795th (back after dropping out)
Esperanza, 824th (back after dropping out)
Cyndi, 841st (its first time ever)
Tamela, 844th (its first time ever)

Boys

Sal, 793rd (back after dropping out)
Jude, 801st (back after dropping out)
Micky, 837th (back after dropping out)
Darell, 851st (back after dropping out)
Darius, 854th (back after dropping out)
Antoine, 862nd (back after dropping out)
Darcy, 873rd (back after dropping out)
Lou, 895th (back after dropping out)
Arlie, 898th (back after dropping out)
Cheyenne, 902nd (its first time ever)

How spread out were names in 1957?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 20.1% of the girls counted in 1957, and the top ten boys' names to 30.8% of the boys. In 1937, those shares were 23.6% for girls and 33.6% 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.