Most Popular Baby Names of 1961

In 1961, Mary was the most popular name for girls, given to 47,682 babies, and Michael topped the boys' list with 86,974. Mary held on to number one for a ninth year in a row, and Michael took the top spot from David.

Social Security counted 2,018,495 girls and 2,124,195 boys born in 1961 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 7,527 different girls' names and 4,657 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1961

Top girls' names, 1961
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1960
1	Mary	47,682	same
2	Lisa	42,720	up 4
3	Susan	37,532	down 1
4	Linda	35,597	down 1
5	Karen	34,707	down 1
6	Patricia	28,889	up 1
7	Donna	28,679	down 2
8	Cynthia	24,393	up 1
9	Sandra	24,153	up 2
10	Deborah	24,107	same
11	Brenda	23,781	up 2
12	Barbara	23,002	same
13	Debra	22,160	down 5
14	Lori	21,876	up 6
15	Pamela	21,691	down 1
16	Nancy	20,729	down 1
17	Sharon	20,459	down 1
18	Teresa	18,909	up 1
19	Elizabeth	18,855	down 1
20	Cheryl	18,301	down 3
21	Laura	17,901	up 4
22	Kimberly	17,355	up 4
23	Julie	17,040	up 5
24	Carol	16,667	down 1
25	Kathy	16,385	down 4
26	Diane	16,205	down 4
27	Robin	15,653	up 6
28	Tammy	15,532	up 3
29	Kathleen	15,395	down 2
30	Denise	15,379	down 1
31	Debbie	14,882	down 7
32	Janet	13,930	same
33	Cindy	13,388	down 3
34	Michelle	12,741	up 5
35	Theresa	11,960	same
36	Kim	11,367	down 2
37	Jacqueline	10,983	up 48
38	Angela	10,843	up 12
39	Christine	10,598	up 1
40	Margaret	10,559	down 4
41	Tina	10,521	up 4
42	Carolyn	10,509	up 1
43	Laurie	10,435	down 6
44	Rebecca	10,236	down 6
45	Kelly	9,642	up 7
46	Rhonda	9,469	down 2
47	Jennifer	9,265	up 14
48	Catherine	9,251	down 6
49	Dawn	9,148	up 8
50	Connie	8,986	down 3
51	Terri	8,730	down 2
52	Janice	8,727	down 11
53	Sherry	8,361	up 1
54	Ann	8,216	down 3
55	Cathy	8,211	down 9
56	Diana	8,198	down 3
57	Maria	7,947	up 2
58	Judy	7,922	down 10
59	Sheila	7,805	down 3
60	Paula	7,744	down 5
61	Wendy	7,154	up 2
62	Joyce	6,996	down 4
63	Michele	6,995	up 26
64	Tracy	6,988	up 20
65	Beth	6,716	up 7
66	Beverly	6,708	down 6
67	Valerie	6,677	down 2
68	Suzanne	6,611	up 10
69	Amy	6,610	up 8
70	Wanda	6,467	down 4
71	Lynn	6,441	down 7
72	Jane	6,365	down 5
73	Annette	6,203	down 11
74	Jill	6,137	up 2
75	Bonnie	6,033	down 4
76	Vicki	5,967	down 3
77	Carla	5,817	up 33
78	Stephanie	5,816	up 13
79	Renee	5,782	up 14
80	Darlene	5,728	down 5
81	Martha	5,724	up 2
82	Gloria	5,691	down 3
83	Judith	5,690	down 9
84	Leslie	5,668	up 8
85	Shirley	5,638	down 15
86	Katherine	5,632	down 5
87	Betty	5,584	down 19
88	Peggy	5,567	down 19
89	Joan	5,551	down 9
90	Anne	5,524	down 2
91	Anita	5,503	down 4
92	Jean	5,366	down 6
93	Kathryn	5,226	down 11
94	Gail	4,973	down 4
95	Melissa	4,900	up 14
96	Ruth	4,896	up 1
97	Ellen	4,844	down 3
98	Regina	4,764	up 7
99	Dorothy	4,732	down 4
100	Anna	4,678	up 4

Top boys' names, 1961
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1960
1	Michael	86,974	up 1
2	David	84,810	down 1
3	John	79,983	up 1
4	James	75,969	down 1
5	Robert	72,977	same
6	Mark	57,796	same
7	William	48,045	same
8	Richard	41,142	same
9	Thomas	37,565	same
10	Steven	32,275	same
11	Jeffrey	32,029	up 3
12	Joseph	29,450	same
13	Charles	29,194	same
14	Kevin	28,926	up 1
15	Timothy	28,253	down 4
16	Kenneth	26,100	same
17	Daniel	25,904	same
18	Paul	25,640	same
19	Scott	23,934	up 4
20	Brian	22,566	same
21	Gary	22,174	up 1
22	Donald	21,409	down 3
23	Gregory	21,364	up 1
24	Ronald	20,842	down 3
25	Anthony	20,209	same
26	Christopher	17,223	up 3
27	Stephen	16,069	same
28	Douglas	15,978	up 2
29	Edward	15,877	down 3
30	Larry	14,580	down 2
31	George	13,644	up 2
32	Terry	13,194	up 2
33	Randy	12,603	down 1
34	Dennis	12,503	down 3
35	Keith	12,275	same
36	Mike	11,667	same
37	Jerry	11,381	same
38	Eric	11,111	up 6
39	Patrick	11,052	up 6
40	Bruce	10,705	down 1
41	Frank	10,433	down 1
42	Peter	10,349	same
43	Craig	10,235	down 2
44	Ricky	10,027	down 6
45	Steve	9,997	down 2
46	Todd	9,750	up 25
47	Roger	9,652	same
48	Raymond	9,618	down 2
49	Jeff	9,463	same
50	Jeffery	8,923	up 5
51	Alan	8,617	down 1
52	Andrew	8,483	down 1
53	Tony	8,306	down 1
54	Danny	8,199	down 6
55	Russell	7,333	up 1
56	Carl	7,255	down 3
57	Chris	7,203	up 6
58	Dale	7,193	down 4
59	Matthew	7,081	up 2
60	Joe	7,056	down 3
61	Wayne	6,762	down 3
62	Gerald	6,630	same
63	Randall	6,587	down 4
64	Glenn	6,271	up 10
65	Tim	6,245	down 5
66	Barry	6,220	up 6
67	Lawrence	6,094	down 3
68	Billy	6,026	down 1
69	Phillip	5,976	down 3
70	Johnny	5,905	down 5
71	Jimmy	5,749	down 2
72	Rodney	5,660	down 4
73	Martin	5,476	up 4
74	Walter	5,467	down 4
75	Curtis	5,447	up 4
76	Bobby	5,402	down 3
77	Greg	5,397	up 6
78	Jim	5,352	down 3
79	Philip	5,288	down 3
80	Darryl	5,134	up 16
81	Jay	5,119	down 3
82	Bryan	5,028	up 6
83	Roy	4,966	down 3
84	Dean	4,933	up 10
85	Arthur	4,815	down 3
86	Willie	4,790	down 5
87	Bradley	4,745	up 3
88	Tom	4,731	down 2
89	Samuel	4,667	up 2
90	Jack	4,639	down 5
91	Ronnie	4,624	down 4
92	Henry	4,620	down 8
93	Jon	4,608	up 4
94	Harold	4,448	down 2
95	Ralph	4,443	down 6
96	Allen	4,391	up 3
97	Albert	4,324	down 4
98	Vincent	4,317	same
99	Victor	4,301	up 4
100	Troy	4,259	up 62

Biggest climbers in 1961

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1960.

Girls

Kara: up 355 places, from 910th to 555th
Jacquline: up 249 places, from 783rd to 534th
Paige: up 219 places, from 745th to 526th
Angel: up 215 places, from 610th to 395th
Daphne: up 202 places, from 573rd to 371st
Loriann: up 196 places, from 937th to 741st
Liza: up 193 places, from 912th to 719th
Danielle: up 180 places, from 553rd to 373rd
Edwina: up 145 places, from 730th to 585th
Nikki: up 141 places, from 725th to 584th

Boys

Lars: up 241 places, from 978th to 737th
Rhett: up 184 places, from 936th to 752nd
Dante: up 182 places, from 871st to 689th
Donovan: up 178 places, from 878th to 700th
Stephon: up 170 places, from 938th to 768th
Sebastian: up 162 places, from 915th to 753rd
Baron: up 159 places, from 944th to 785th
Chauncey: up 151 places, from 998th to 847th
Quincy: up 150 places, from 994th to 844th
Darron: up 148 places, from 930th to 782nd

New to the top 1,000 in 1961

Girls

Johnna, 442nd (its first time ever)
Velvet, 542nd (its first time ever)
Corina, 621st (its first time ever)
Jacquelin, 765th (back after dropping out)
Corinna, 814th (back after dropping out)
Jacklyn, 818th (back after dropping out)
Jeana, 829th (its first time ever)
Sabra, 856th (back after dropping out)
Alyson, 879th (back after dropping out)
Angelique, 895th (its first time ever)

Boys

Brook, 663rd (its first time ever)
Shayne, 729th (its first time ever)
Lorne, 795th (its first time ever)
Efrem, 841st (back after dropping out)
Micky, 843rd (back after dropping out)
Parrish, 869th (its first time ever)
Drake, 877th (its first time ever)
Foster, 887th (back after dropping out)
Gail, 888th (back after dropping out)
Rubin, 889th (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1961?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 16.3% of the girls counted in 1961, and the top ten boys' names to 29.1% of the boys. In 1941, those shares were 23.5% 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.