Most Popular Baby Names of 1962

In 1962, Lisa was the most popular name for girls, given to 46,069 babies, and Michael topped the boys' list with 85,059. Lisa took the top spot from Mary, and Michael held on to number one for a second year in a row.

Social Security counted 1,966,603 girls and 2,068,772 boys born in 1962 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 7,584 different girls' names and 4,631 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1962

Top girls' names, 1962
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1961
1	Lisa	46,069	up 1
2	Mary	43,502	down 1
3	Susan	35,752	same
4	Karen	35,184	up 1
5	Linda	31,461	down 1
6	Patricia	26,532	same
7	Donna	25,719	same
8	Cynthia	24,025	same
9	Deborah	22,889	up 1
10	Sandra	22,420	down 1
11	Lori	22,395	up 3
12	Brenda	21,274	down 1
13	Pamela	21,270	up 2
14	Barbara	20,641	down 2
15	Debra	20,593	down 2
16	Kimberly	20,363	up 6
17	Sharon	19,630	same
18	Teresa	18,517	same
19	Nancy	18,027	down 3
20	Elizabeth	17,806	down 1
21	Laura	17,490	same
22	Julie	17,090	up 1
23	Tammy	16,743	up 5
24	Cheryl	16,587	down 4
25	Robin	15,128	up 2
26	Diane	14,823	same
27	Kathy	14,757	down 2
28	Carol	14,523	down 4
29	Kathleen	14,188	same
30	Denise	13,975	same
31	Michelle	13,353	up 3
32	Debbie	13,092	down 1
33	Tina	12,781	up 8
34	Cindy	12,297	down 1
35	Janet	12,256	down 3
36	Angela	11,664	up 2
37	Kim	11,657	down 1
38	Kelly	11,530	up 7
39	Christine	11,196	same
40	Theresa	11,061	down 5
41	Jennifer	10,977	up 6
42	Laurie	10,675	up 1
43	Margaret	10,075	down 3
44	Jacqueline	9,832	down 7
45	Rhonda	9,803	up 1
46	Carolyn	9,692	down 4
47	Rebecca	9,403	down 3
48	Sherry	9,223	up 5
49	Maria	9,089	up 8
50	Dawn	8,984	down 1
51	Connie	8,882	down 1
52	Sheila	8,778	up 7
53	Catherine	8,697	down 5
54	Terri	8,433	down 3
55	Tracy	8,310	up 9
56	Ann	8,123	down 2
57	Diana	7,842	down 1
58	Janice	7,822	down 6
59	Michele	7,428	up 4
60	Paula	7,193	same
61	Amy	7,185	up 8
62	Cathy	7,145	down 7
63	Judy	7,061	down 5
64	Wendy	6,977	down 3
65	Suzanne	6,851	up 3
66	Beth	6,419	down 1
67	Valerie	6,335	same
68	Melissa	6,306	up 27
69	Beverly	6,266	down 3
70	Stephanie	6,257	up 8
71	Lynn	6,217	same
72	Jill	6,170	up 2
73	Jane	6,114	down 1
74	Joyce	6,096	down 12
75	Annette	6,076	down 2
76	Renee	6,012	up 3
77	Wanda	6,003	down 7
78	Carla	5,820	down 1
79	Bonnie	5,812	down 4
80	Leslie	5,778	up 4
81	Anita	5,521	up 10
82	Sherri	5,363	up 39
83	Anne	5,272	up 7
84	Katherine	5,272	up 2
85	Vicki	5,208	down 9
86	Judith	5,183	down 3
87	Martha	5,159	down 6
88	Darlene	5,107	down 8
89	Kathryn	5,107	up 4
90	Gloria	5,102	down 8
91	Regina	5,002	up 7
92	Penny	5,001	up 9
93	Peggy	4,900	down 5
94	Joan	4,879	down 5
95	Jean	4,877	down 3
96	Shirley	4,869	down 11
97	Betty	4,763	down 10
98	Sarah	4,548	up 15
99	Andrea	4,540	up 11
100	Anna	4,430	same

Top boys' names, 1962
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1961
1	Michael	85,059	same
2	David	81,337	same
3	John	78,427	same
4	James	72,555	same
5	Robert	70,199	same
6	Mark	53,520	same
7	William	44,853	same
8	Richard	39,422	same
9	Thomas	36,529	same
10	Jeffrey	33,537	up 1
11	Scott	30,703	up 8
12	Steven	30,688	down 2
13	Joseph	30,090	down 1
14	Kevin	28,325	same
15	Charles	27,590	down 2
16	Timothy	27,111	down 1
17	Daniel	25,543	same
18	Kenneth	25,241	down 2
19	Paul	23,802	down 1
20	Brian	23,221	same
21	Gregory	21,976	up 2
22	Gary	20,884	down 1
23	Donald	20,425	down 1
24	Anthony	20,103	up 1
25	Ronald	19,963	down 1
26	Christopher	17,535	same
27	Douglas	15,928	up 1
28	Stephen	15,616	down 1
29	Edward	15,518	same
30	Todd	12,752	up 16
31	Larry	12,711	down 1
32	George	12,544	down 1
33	Eric	12,348	up 5
34	Terry	12,301	down 2
35	Randy	11,840	down 2
36	Keith	11,626	down 1
37	Dennis	10,633	down 3
38	Jerry	10,576	down 1
39	Mike	10,530	down 3
40	Patrick	10,499	down 1
41	Bruce	10,038	down 1
42	Frank	9,761	down 1
43	Peter	9,585	down 1
44	Jeff	9,424	up 5
45	Jeffery	9,282	up 5
46	Steve	9,154	down 1
47	Roger	9,079	same
48	Raymond	9,070	same
49	Andrew	8,697	up 3
50	Ricky	8,694	down 6
51	Craig	8,544	down 8
52	Tony	8,197	up 1
53	Alan	7,719	down 2
54	Danny	7,644	same
55	Glenn	7,356	up 9
56	Matthew	7,279	up 3
57	Russell	7,042	down 2
58	Carl	6,854	down 2
59	Joe	6,793	up 1
60	Chris	6,791	down 3
61	Barry	6,585	up 5
62	Dale	6,365	down 4
63	Wayne	6,324	down 2
64	Randall	6,236	down 1
65	Gerald	6,232	down 3
66	Vincent	6,159	up 32
67	Troy	6,048	up 33
68	Phillip	5,881	up 1
69	Johnny	5,777	up 1
70	Lawrence	5,619	down 3
71	Billy	5,588	down 3
72	Tim	5,585	down 7
73	Curtis	5,569	up 2
74	Martin	5,538	down 1
75	Jimmy	5,518	down 4
76	Rodney	5,435	down 4
77	Greg	5,365	same
78	Bobby	5,323	down 2
79	Walter	5,282	down 5
80	Jay	5,158	up 1
81	Philip	5,069	down 2
82	Bryan	4,992	same
83	Darryl	4,969	down 3
84	Jon	4,785	up 9
85	Jim	4,715	down 7
86	Dean	4,655	down 2
87	Bradley	4,637	same
88	Samuel	4,552	up 1
89	Willie	4,541	down 3
90	Roy	4,476	down 7
91	Arthur	4,441	down 6
92	Henry	4,346	same
93	Allen	4,272	up 3
94	Jonathan	4,253	up 18
95	Harold	4,233	down 1
96	Victor	4,208	up 3
97	Ralph	4,180	down 2
98	Tom	4,171	down 10
99	Jack	4,170	down 9
100	Ronnie	4,113	down 9

Biggest climbers in 1962

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1961.

Girls

Lolita: up 409 places, from 980th to 571st
Maribel: up 261 places, from 933rd to 672nd
Nicole: up 207 places, from 614th to 407th
Jeanna: up 205 places, from 958th to 753rd
Erica: up 202 places, from 658th to 456th
Latonya: up 192 places, from 995th to 803rd
Sybil: up 180 places, from 955th to 775th
Marnita: up 171 places, from 898th to 727th
Karyn: up 162 places, from 637th to 475th
Sherryl: up 154 places, from 999th to 845th

Boys

Pernell: up 244 places, from 931st to 687th
Adan: up 204 places, from 990th to 786th
Lorne: up 201 places, from 795th to 594th
Demetrius: up 199 places, from 769th to 570th
Kirt: up 180 places, from 764th to 584th
Andrea: up 172 places, from 951st to 779th
Garret: up 162 places, from 960th to 798th
Johnathan: up 151 places, from 673rd to 522nd
Rodrick: up 143 places, from 856th to 713th
Reinaldo: up 141 places, from 999th to 858th

New to the top 1,000 in 1962

Girls

Staci, 751st (its first time ever)
Whitney, 752nd (its first time ever)
Tiffany, 793rd (its first time ever)
Kayla, 813th (back after dropping out)
Stefanie, 815th (its first time ever)
Jerilyn, 844th (back after dropping out)
Carmel, 848th (back after dropping out)
Noemi, 854th (back after dropping out)
Courtney, 863rd (back after dropping out)
Adrian, 871st (back after dropping out)

Boys

Keenan, 773rd (back after dropping out)
Ritchie, 775th (back after dropping out)
Robb, 807th (back after dropping out)
Brant, 822nd (back after dropping out)
Deon, 830th (its first time ever)
Barbara, 872nd (back after dropping out)
Barron, 873rd (back after dropping out)
Maury, 877th (back after dropping out)
Olin, 878th (back after dropping out)
Alvaro, 907th (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1962?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 15.9% of the girls counted in 1962, and the top ten boys' names to 28.8% of the boys. In 1942, those shares were 24% for girls and 33.8% 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.