Most Popular Baby Names of 1959

In 1959, Mary was the most popular name for girls, given to 54,502 babies, and Michael topped the boys' list with 85,294. Mary held on to number one for a seventh year in a row, and Michael held on to number one for a sixth year in a row.

Social Security counted 2,023,462 girls and 2,134,518 boys born in 1959 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 7,202 different girls' names and 4,572 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1959

Top girls' names, 1959
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1958
1	Mary	54,502	same
2	Susan	41,617	same
3	Linda	40,410	same
4	Karen	36,784	same
5	Donna	36,468	up 5
6	Patricia	35,223	down 1
7	Debra	31,388	down 1
8	Cynthia	30,186	same
9	Deborah	29,546	down 2
10	Lisa	25,699	up 9
11	Barbara	25,359	down 2
12	Pamela	24,714	down 1
13	Sandra	23,359	up 2
14	Nancy	23,079	down 2
15	Kathy	21,814	down 1
16	Brenda	21,424	same
17	Sharon	21,292	same
18	Cheryl	20,947	down 5
19	Diane	19,972	down 1
20	Debbie	19,540	up 4
21	Elizabeth	18,421	up 1
22	Carol	18,140	down 2
23	Kathleen	17,629	down 2
24	Teresa	17,400	up 2
25	Cindy	16,973	same
26	Julie	16,211	down 3
27	Lori	15,032	up 3
28	Janet	14,964	same
29	Denise	14,662	down 2
30	Laura	14,528	down 1
31	Tammy	13,707	up 13
32	Robin	12,854	same
33	Kimberly	12,790	up 6
34	Theresa	11,656	down 1
35	Kim	11,594	up 5
36	Margaret	11,577	down 5
37	Janice	10,489	down 2
38	Rebecca	10,475	up 3
39	Cathy	10,408	down 5
40	Catherine	10,025	down 2
41	Judy	9,884	down 5
42	Carolyn	9,727	down 5
43	Christine	9,471	same
44	Ann	8,918	up 3
45	Rhonda	8,861	up 3
46	Terri	8,783	up 5
47	Michelle	8,776	up 9
48	Connie	8,655	up 2
49	Diana	8,637	down 4
50	Joyce	8,520	down 4
51	Paula	8,059	up 2
52	Sheila	7,984	up 7
53	Tina	7,919	up 18
54	Dawn	7,898	up 30
55	Beverly	7,796	same
56	Laurie	7,535	up 14
57	Peggy	7,416	down 15
58	Sherry	7,341	up 9
59	Betty	7,313	down 5
60	Valerie	7,302	up 4
61	Shirley	7,284	down 9
62	Maria	7,249	up 3
63	Lynn	7,058	down 3
64	Annette	6,919	up 12
65	Wanda	6,907	up 1
66	Darlene	6,876	down 17
67	Jane	6,864	down 6
68	Angela	6,772	up 15
69	Kathryn	6,746	down 11
70	Judith	6,566	down 8
71	Bonnie	6,456	down 8
72	Martha	6,439	down 3
73	Vicki	6,430	down 16
74	Kelly	6,380	up 34
75	Gail	6,344	down 3
76	Joan	6,337	down 8
77	Jean	6,233	down 4
78	Jennifer	6,233	up 3
79	Katherine	6,139	down 5
80	Beth	6,069	up 15
81	Gloria	5,924	down 4
82	Anne	5,745	up 5
83	Wendy	5,712	up 24
84	Leslie	5,652	down 5
85	Amy	5,580	up 12
86	Jill	5,554	up 12
87	Anita	5,474	down 5
88	Rose	5,446	down 10
89	Michele	5,445	up 3
90	Vickie	5,419	down 15
91	Ellen	5,396	up 2
92	Joanne	5,347	down 12
93	Virginia	5,256	down 8
94	Dorothy	5,231	down 8
95	Terry	5,215	down 6
96	Suzanne	5,161	up 8
97	Ruth	5,057	down 7
98	Rita	4,952	down 10
99	Anna	4,878	up 4
100	Renee	4,845	up 5

Top boys' names, 1959
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1958
1	Michael	85,294	same
2	David	83,977	same
3	James	78,648	same
4	John	76,446	up 1
5	Robert	74,542	down 1
6	Mark	56,945	up 1
7	William	51,386	down 1
8	Richard	47,202	same
9	Thomas	40,296	same
10	Steven	33,597	same
11	Charles	30,797	same
12	Timothy	30,783	up 1
13	Joseph	29,539	down 1
14	Kevin	26,790	up 6
15	Kenneth	26,640	down 1
16	Jeffrey	26,281	up 5
17	Paul	25,712	down 2
18	Daniel	25,155	down 2
19	Donald	23,876	down 1
20	Gary	23,303	down 3
21	Ronald	23,114	down 2
22	Brian	20,737	up 2
23	Gregory	19,889	same
24	Scott	19,765	up 1
25	Larry	18,434	down 3
26	Anthony	17,972	up 1
27	Edward	16,914	up 1
28	Stephen	16,504	down 2
29	Dennis	16,043	same
30	Douglas	15,290	same
31	Randy	15,042	up 1
32	George	15,012	down 1
33	Terry	14,545	same
34	Ricky	13,226	same
35	Christopher	12,915	up 4
36	Jerry	12,324	down 1
37	Mike	11,995	up 3
38	Bruce	11,914	down 2
39	Keith	11,758	down 2
40	Peter	11,289	up 1
41	Steve	11,068	up 3
42	Frank	10,942	down 4
43	Patrick	10,556	down 1
44	Craig	9,933	up 9
45	Raymond	9,796	down 2
46	Eric	9,726	up 4
47	Roger	8,794	same
48	Danny	8,727	down 3
49	Dale	8,343	down 3
50	Alan	8,151	down 1
51	Wayne	7,878	down 3
52	Jeff	7,730	up 16
53	Tony	7,564	up 4
54	Carl	7,501	down 3
55	Jeffery	7,487	up 4
56	Russell	7,480	down 2
57	Joe	7,389	down 1
58	Andrew	7,089	down 3
59	Randall	7,059	up 3
60	Tim	6,826	up 14
61	Gerald	6,636	down 3
62	Lawrence	6,601	down 10
63	Matthew	6,542	down 3
64	Johnny	6,311	down 3
65	Billy	6,308	down 1
66	Walter	6,128	down 3
67	Rodney	5,917	down 2
68	Philip	5,862	down 1
69	Jimmy	5,830	up 4
70	Jim	5,688	up 17
71	Bobby	5,677	down 2
72	Chris	5,676	up 21
73	Barry	5,601	up 6
74	Phillip	5,597	up 7
75	Curtis	5,536	up 7
76	Arthur	5,474	down 4
77	Ronnie	5,474	down 11
78	Willie	5,374	down 8
79	Martin	5,353	down 8
80	Glenn	5,352	down 4
81	Roy	5,183	down 6
82	Tom	5,068	up 14
83	Henry	5,061	same
84	Ralph	5,048	down 6
85	Jack	5,015	down 5
86	Samuel	4,953	down 1
87	Harold	4,943	down 3
88	Jay	4,940	down 2
89	Rick	4,936	down 12
90	Darrell	4,647	same
91	Greg	4,635	up 14
92	Albert	4,605	down 3
93	Bill	4,596	up 6
94	Bryan	4,488	up 7
95	Dean	4,425	up 2
96	Micheal	4,369	down 5
97	Allen	4,366	down 5
98	Stanley	4,343	down 10
99	Todd	4,332	up 17
100	Louis	4,311	down 6

Biggest climbers in 1959

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1958.

Girls

Gigi: up 295 places, from 925th to 630th
Antionette: up 227 places, from 941st to 714th
Nola: up 226 places, from 853rd to 627th
Annemarie: up 214 places, from 961st to 747th
Meg: up 208 places, from 923rd to 715th
Monique: up 187 places, from 644th to 457th
Brigitte: up 180 places, from 771st to 591st
Karrie: up 178 places, from 956th to 778th
Cara: up 172 places, from 878th to 706th
Juana: up 164 places, from 948th to 784th

Boys

Ty: up 264 places, from 832nd to 568th
Fidel: up 249 places, from 880th to 631st
Layne: up 235 places, from 799th to 564th
Josh: up 235 places, from 911th to 676th
Shannon: up 188 places, from 647th to 459th
Darren: up 169 places, from 382nd to 213th
Xavier: up 166 places, from 834th to 668th
Maxwell: up 157 places, from 998th to 841st
Kennth: up 146 places, from 973rd to 827th
Royal: up 142 places, from 948th to 806th

New to the top 1,000 in 1959

Girls

Venus, 570th (back after dropping out)
Andra, 757th (back after dropping out)
Taryn, 771st (back after dropping out)
Bridgett, 811th (its first time ever)
Cari, 812th (its first time ever)
Selina, 841st (back after dropping out)
Tori, 847th (its first time ever)
Edie, 873rd (its first time ever)
Daria, 884th (back after dropping out)
Sydney, 894th (back after dropping out)

Boys

Fabian, 610th (back after dropping out)
Yancy, 690th (back after dropping out)
Darrin, 753rd (its first time ever)
Flint, 762nd (its first time ever)
Darin, 777th (its first time ever)
Stefan, 793rd (back after dropping out)
Kerwin, 810th (back after dropping out)
Daren, 818th (its first time ever)
Efrem, 825th (its first time ever)
Roddy, 829th (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1959?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 17.9% of the girls counted in 1959, and the top ten boys' names to 29.4% of the boys. In 1939, those shares were 23% 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.