Most Popular Baby Names of 1963

In 1963, Lisa was the most popular name for girls, given to 56,047 babies, and Michael topped the boys' list with 83,771. Lisa held on to number one for a second year in a row, and Michael held on to number one for a third year in a row.

Social Security counted 1,927,507 girls and 2,031,078 boys born in 1963 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 7,661 different girls' names and 4,621 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1963

Top girls' names, 1963
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1962
1	Lisa	56,047	same
2	Mary	41,546	same
3	Susan	33,991	same
4	Karen	32,492	same
5	Linda	27,727	same
6	Donna	25,405	up 1
7	Patricia	25,374	down 1
8	Lori	23,899	up 3
9	Sandra	21,621	up 1
10	Cynthia	21,589	down 2
11	Kimberly	21,224	up 5
12	Tammy	21,199	up 11
13	Deborah	21,053	down 4
14	Pamela	20,593	down 1
15	Brenda	19,611	down 3
16	Laura	18,514	up 5
17	Barbara	18,295	down 3
18	Teresa	17,965	same
19	Sharon	17,800	down 2
20	Elizabeth	17,598	same
21	Debra	17,335	down 6
22	Julie	16,304	same
23	Nancy	16,266	down 4
24	Cheryl	15,047	same
25	Robin	14,435	same
26	Michelle	14,383	up 5
27	Denise	14,092	up 3
28	Kathleen	13,547	up 1
29	Christine	13,387	up 10
30	Angela	13,277	up 6
31	Diane	13,193	down 5
32	Kelly	12,550	up 6
33	Carol	12,492	down 5
34	Kathy	12,215	down 7
35	Tina	12,157	down 2
36	Jennifer	11,757	up 5
37	Cindy	11,090	down 3
38	Theresa	11,039	up 2
39	Kim	10,683	down 2
40	Janet	10,667	down 5
41	Debbie	10,444	down 9
42	Paula	10,156	up 18
43	Maria	9,854	up 6
44	Rebecca	9,393	up 3
45	Rhonda	9,356	same
46	Margaret	9,304	down 3
47	Laurie	9,276	down 5
48	Tracy	9,073	up 7
49	Sherry	9,065	down 1
50	Sheila	8,706	up 2
51	Jacqueline	8,562	down 7
52	Dawn	8,412	down 2
53	Catherine	8,294	same
54	Amy	8,227	up 7
55	Connie	8,165	down 4
56	Carolyn	8,124	down 10
57	Ann	7,975	down 1
58	Terri	7,704	down 4
59	Michele	7,512	same
60	Wendy	7,333	up 4
61	Melissa	7,321	up 7
62	Diana	7,310	down 5
63	Janice	7,074	down 5
64	Stephanie	6,825	up 6
65	Suzanne	6,821	same
66	Beth	6,677	same
67	Cathy	6,319	down 5
68	Jill	6,300	up 4
69	Valerie	6,172	down 2
70	Judy	6,137	down 7
71	Annette	6,050	up 4
72	Leslie	5,857	up 8
73	Lynn	5,827	down 2
74	Renee	5,776	up 2
75	Jane	5,767	down 2
76	Wanda	5,596	up 1
77	Anita	5,473	up 4
78	Sherri	5,460	up 4
79	Gina	5,337	up 23
80	Anne	5,330	up 3
81	Beverly	5,280	down 12
82	Carla	5,264	down 4
83	Bonnie	5,226	down 4
84	Joyce	5,222	down 10
85	Darlene	5,153	up 3
86	Penny	5,129	up 6
87	Katherine	5,124	down 3
88	Dana	5,048	up 29
89	Andrea	5,013	up 10
90	Martha	4,887	down 3
91	Judith	4,743	down 5
92	Regina	4,710	down 1
93	Kathryn	4,701	down 4
94	Sarah	4,571	up 4
95	Joan	4,562	down 1
96	Gloria	4,536	down 6
97	Jean	4,485	down 2
98	Colleen	4,447	up 3
99	Shirley	4,387	down 3
100	Vicki	4,362	down 15

Top boys' names, 1963
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1962
1	Michael	83,771	same
2	John	78,636	up 1
3	David	78,444	down 1
4	James	71,294	same
5	Robert	70,007	same
6	Mark	49,342	same
7	William	44,453	same
8	Richard	40,772	same
9	Thomas	35,490	same
10	Jeffrey	31,701	same
11	Kevin	30,613	up 3
12	Scott	30,396	down 1
13	Joseph	30,077	same
14	Steven	29,328	down 2
15	Timothy	27,187	up 1
16	Charles	26,762	down 1
17	Paul	26,672	up 2
18	Kenneth	25,235	same
19	Daniel	24,815	down 2
20	Brian	24,133	same
21	Gregory	21,420	same
22	Anthony	20,250	up 2
23	Ronald	19,780	up 2
24	Gary	18,929	down 2
25	Donald	18,896	down 2
26	Christopher	18,339	same
27	Edward	15,323	up 2
28	Douglas	15,086	down 1
29	Stephen	14,992	down 1
30	Todd	14,789	same
31	Eric	13,278	up 2
32	Terry	12,463	up 2
33	Keith	12,243	up 3
34	George	12,079	down 2
35	Patrick	12,071	up 5
36	Larry	11,667	down 5
37	Randy	10,535	down 2
38	Jerry	10,189	same
39	Dennis	9,821	down 2
40	Peter	9,614	up 3
41	Frank	9,527	up 1
42	Andrew	9,514	up 7
43	Bruce	9,275	down 2
44	Mike	9,045	down 5
45	Raymond	8,780	up 3
46	Jeffery	8,486	down 1
47	Ricky	8,114	up 3
48	Jeff	8,105	down 4
49	Steve	8,050	down 3
50	Matthew	8,034	up 6
51	Craig	7,899	same
52	Tony	7,879	same
53	Roger	7,743	down 6
54	Carl	7,128	up 4
55	Danny	7,101	down 1
56	Alan	6,935	down 3
57	Russell	6,703	same
58	Joe	6,379	up 1
59	Chris	6,328	up 1
60	Gerald	6,156	up 5
61	Vincent	6,152	up 5
62	Martin	6,073	up 12
63	Wayne	6,031	same
64	Glenn	5,977	down 9
65	Randall	5,972	down 1
66	Troy	5,971	up 1
67	Barry	5,953	down 6
68	Lawrence	5,708	up 2
69	Dale	5,700	down 7
70	Phillip	5,655	down 2
71	Johnny	5,420	down 2
72	Curtis	5,376	up 1
73	Bryan	5,257	up 9
74	Billy	5,241	down 3
75	Bobby	5,212	up 3
76	Rodney	5,193	same
77	Walter	5,068	up 2
78	Jimmy	5,043	down 3
79	Tim	5,016	down 7
80	Darryl	5,013	up 3
81	Greg	4,854	down 4
82	Bradley	4,765	up 5
83	Philip	4,757	down 2
84	Jon	4,750	same
85	Jay	4,720	down 5
86	Dean	4,616	same
87	Samuel	4,520	up 1
88	Jonathan	4,471	up 6
89	Roy	4,440	up 1
90	Allen	4,339	up 3
91	Arthur	4,275	same
92	Jim	4,237	down 7
93	Willie	4,194	down 4
94	Henry	4,184	down 2
95	Darrell	4,097	up 7
96	Harold	4,093	down 1
97	Victor	4,056	down 1
98	Jose	4,012	up 5
99	Ralph	3,931	down 2
100	Albert	3,883	up 1

Biggest climbers in 1963

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1962.

Girls

Zina: up 627 places, from 997th to 370th
Glynis: up 397 places, from 993rd to 596th
Jonna: up 356 places, from 980th to 624th
Johnna: up 240 places, from 627th to 387th
Candi: up 216 places, from 953rd to 737th
Staci: up 171 places, from 751st to 580th
Kirsten: up 169 places, from 561st to 392nd
Alyson: up 166 places, from 985th to 819th
Whitney: up 141 places, from 752nd to 611th
Consuelo: up 140 places, from 967th to 827th

Boys

Kennedy: up 201 places, from 819th to 618th
Trevor: up 192 places, from 849th to 657th
Quinn: up 179 places, from 944th to 765th
Alden: up 160 places, from 985th to 825th
Duncan: up 156 places, from 649th to 493rd
Dwane: up 150 places, from 911th to 761st
Agustin: up 142 places, from 984th to 842nd
Brien: up 135 places, from 902nd to 767th
Quentin: up 129 places, from 661st to 532nd
Courtney: up 117 places, from 764th to 647th

New to the top 1,000 in 1963

Girls

Trisha, 483rd (back after dropping out)
Zena, 694th (back after dropping out)
Elissa, 808th (back after dropping out)
Sydney, 842nd (back after dropping out)
Miranda, 843rd (back after dropping out)
Chrystal, 847th (back after dropping out)
Shirl, 851st (its first time ever)
Hillary, 862nd (its first time ever)
Lesli, 870th (its first time ever)
Jena, 892nd (its first time ever)

Boys

Stoney, 500th (its first time ever)
Tal, 815th (its first time ever)
Jaimie, 823rd (its first time ever)
Collin, 830th (back after dropping out)
Kieth, 834th (back after dropping out)
Darell, 871st (back after dropping out)
Trenton, 878th (its first time ever)
Darvin, 882nd (back after dropping out)
Andreas, 886th (its first time ever)
Farrell, 887th (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1963?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 16.1% of the girls counted in 1963, and the top ten boys' names to 28.7% of the boys. In 1943, those shares were 24.4% for girls and 34.1% 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.