Most Popular Baby Names of 1965

In 1965, Lisa was the most popular name for girls, given to 60,271 babies, and Michael topped the boys' list with 80,992. Lisa held on to number one for a fourth year in a row, and Michael held on to number one for a fifth year in a row.

Social Security counted 1,765,164 girls and 1,860,143 boys born in 1965 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 7,535 different girls' names and 4,425 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1965

Top girls' names, 1965
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1964
1	Lisa	60,271	same
2	Mary	34,270	same
3	Karen	32,869	up 1
4	Kimberly	28,836	up 2
5	Susan	26,321	down 2
6	Patricia	23,552	down 1
7	Donna	19,700	same
8	Linda	19,345	same
9	Cynthia	19,239	same
10	Angela	18,754	up 12
11	Tammy	18,013	down 1
12	Pamela	17,467	down 1
13	Deborah	17,081	down 1
14	Julie	16,987	up 3
15	Sandra	16,371	down 2
16	Elizabeth	16,321	same
17	Laura	16,218	down 3
18	Michelle	16,215	up 5
19	Lori	15,695	down 4
20	Jennifer	15,207	up 11
21	Christine	15,204	up 7
22	Sharon	15,129	down 2
23	Brenda	15,060	down 5
24	Teresa	14,578	down 3
25	Barbara	14,023	down 6
26	Dawn	13,344	up 7
27	Debra	13,098	down 3
28	Denise	13,036	down 3
29	Tina	12,831	up 5
30	Kelly	12,763	up 5
31	Cheryl	12,550	down 2
32	Nancy	12,255	down 6
33	Robin	11,995	down 6
34	Kathleen	11,778	down 4
35	Amy	11,530	up 9
36	Tracy	11,174	up 4
37	Rhonda	10,949	up 6
38	Melissa	10,563	up 15
39	Wendy	10,481	up 16
40	Diane	10,365	down 8
41	Rebecca	10,211	up 5
42	Carol	10,097	down 6
43	Kim	10,083	down 1
44	Stephanie	9,765	up 13
45	Theresa	9,685	down 7
46	Maria	9,480	down 5
47	Jacqueline	9,413	down 10
48	Michele	8,661	up 10
49	Paula	7,915	down 4
50	Sheila	7,904	up 1
51	Jill	7,820	up 10
52	Margaret	7,799	down 3
53	Cindy	7,777	down 6
54	Kathy	7,762	down 15
55	Janet	7,654	down 7
56	Sherry	7,381	down 6
57	Catherine	7,243	down 3
58	Carolyn	6,965	down 2
59	Ann	6,784	up 1
60	Laurie	6,533	down 1
61	Connie	6,155	up 3
62	Debbie	6,088	down 10
63	Andrea	6,080	up 14
64	Diana	5,926	down 1
65	Suzanne	5,912	up 2
66	Beth	5,774	down 1
67	Valerie	5,648	down 1
68	Renee	5,496	up 3
69	Terri	5,373	down 7
70	Gina	5,267	up 9
71	Annette	5,262	down 3
72	Monica	5,113	up 18
73	Janice	5,029	down 4
74	Christina	4,979	up 14
75	Leslie	4,875	down 2
76	Carla	4,781	up 2
77	Anne	4,726	down 1
78	Dana	4,722	down 8
79	Katherine	4,706	up 3
80	Lynn	4,668	down 8
81	Wanda	4,654	same
82	Regina	4,548	up 1
83	Darlene	4,356	down 3
84	Stacey	4,269	up 42
85	Tracey	4,260	up 26
86	Judy	4,243	down 12
87	Kathryn	4,157	down 3
88	Cathy	4,151	down 13
89	Bonnie	4,130	same
90	Joyce	4,128	down 3
91	Sherri	4,065	down 5
92	Sarah	4,062	same
93	Colleen	4,028	up 1
94	Anita	4,017	down 9
95	Jane	3,927	down 2
96	Anna	3,920	up 1
97	Penny	3,898	down 1
98	Shelly	3,850	up 3
99	Martha	3,801	down 4
100	Melinda	3,796	up 13

Top boys' names, 1965
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1964
1	Michael	80,992	same
2	John	71,493	same
3	David	67,825	same
4	James	67,666	same
5	Robert	63,106	same
6	William	40,111	up 1
7	Mark	38,244	down 1
8	Richard	36,817	same
9	Thomas	31,595	same
10	Jeffrey	29,574	same
11	Joseph	28,630	same
12	Timothy	28,334	up 3
13	Kevin	28,177	same
14	Steven	27,977	down 2
15	Scott	25,437	down 1
16	Paul	24,919	same
17	Daniel	24,833	up 2
18	Christopher	24,640	up 5
19	Brian	24,552	up 1
20	Charles	23,494	down 3
21	Kenneth	22,677	down 3
22	Anthony	20,326	down 1
23	Gregory	18,205	down 1
24	Ronald	17,619	same
25	Eric	16,826	up 7
26	Donald	16,033	down 1
27	Gary	15,259	down 1
28	Stephen	14,648	up 1
29	Edward	14,404	down 2
30	Todd	13,934	down 2
31	Patrick	12,929	down 1
32	Douglas	12,787	down 1
33	Rodney	11,086	up 26
34	George	10,680	down 1
35	Keith	10,670	down 1
36	Matthew	9,982	up 7
37	Andrew	9,673	same
38	Larry	9,403	down 2
39	Peter	9,395	same
40	Terry	9,088	down 5
41	Jerry	9,015	down 1
42	Randy	8,861	down 4
43	Frank	8,319	down 2
44	Dennis	8,215	down 2
45	Raymond	8,051	down 1
46	Craig	7,877	up 2
47	Jeffery	7,734	down 2
48	Tony	6,815	up 2
49	Roger	6,429	same
50	Bruce	6,325	down 4
51	Mike	6,035	down 4
52	Darren	5,938	up 75
53	Troy	5,856	up 4
54	Carl	5,797	up 1
55	Steve	5,685	down 4
56	Danny	5,675	same
57	Ricky	5,659	down 3
58	Russell	5,645	same
59	Alan	5,612	down 6
60	Chris	5,479	up 5
61	Vincent	5,428	up 3
62	Jeff	5,406	down 10
63	Bryan	5,345	up 7
64	Gerald	5,252	down 4
65	Wayne	5,112	down 4
66	Lawrence	4,961	up 2
67	Martin	4,932	down 4
68	Darryl	4,925	up 19
69	Shawn	4,924	up 19
70	Phillip	4,891	down 3
71	Joe	4,833	down 9
72	Bradley	4,787	up 5
73	Randall	4,752	down 7
74	Jonathan	4,723	up 9
75	Curtis	4,687	same
76	Johnny	4,687	down 2
77	Billy	4,649	down 6
78	Jon	4,601	up 1
79	Sean	4,594	up 39
80	Bobby	4,588	down 7
81	Jimmy	4,529	down 3
82	Walter	4,483	down 2
83	Dale	4,397	down 11
84	Samuel	4,395	up 2
85	Glenn	4,355	down 4
86	Barry	4,324	down 17
87	Philip	4,278	down 11
88	Dean	4,096	down 3
89	Jose	3,966	up 5
90	Jay	3,944	down 6
91	Darrell	3,888	up 5
92	Allen	3,834	up 1
93	Willie	3,807	down 3
94	Henry	3,801	down 2
95	Roy	3,785	down 6
96	Arthur	3,779	down 5
97	Tim	3,718	down 15
98	Victor	3,682	down 1
99	Harold	3,539	down 1
100	Albert	3,419	same

Biggest climbers in 1965

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1964.

Girls

Mia: up 305 places, from 572nd to 267th
Samantha: up 295 places, from 474th to 179th
Kecia: up 225 places, from 617th to 392nd
Shana: up 198 places, from 785th to 587th
Barbra: up 182 places, from 821st to 639th
Althea: up 180 places, from 854th to 674th
Alisha: up 177 places, from 964th to 787th
Ursula: up 161 places, from 666th to 505th
Candice: up 155 places, from 751st to 596th
Lesley: up 153 places, from 483rd to 330th

Boys

Daron: up 220 places, from 713th to 493rd
Jayson: up 212 places, from 994th to 782nd
Deron: up 205 places, from 684th to 479th
Darron: up 196 places, from 604th to 408th
Trevor: up 189 places, from 718th to 529th
Daren: up 179 places, from 450th to 271st
Darrin: up 170 places, from 272nd to 102nd
Kory: up 163 places, from 892nd to 729th
Cyrus: up 147 places, from 937th to 790th
Duwayne: up 132 places, from 993rd to 861st

New to the top 1,000 in 1965

Girls

Marnie, 584th (its first time ever)
Dionne, 627th (its first time ever)
Sarita, 770th (back after dropping out)
Alexis, 771st (back after dropping out)
Hollie, 809th (back after dropping out)
Trudi, 845th (back after dropping out)
Miranda, 852nd (back after dropping out)
Consuelo, 862nd (back after dropping out)
Kimberlie, 864th (its first time ever)
Casandra, 883rd (its first time ever)

Boys

Daryn, 716th (its first time ever)
Darien, 721st (its first time ever)
Darryn, 817th (its first time ever)
Shon, 819th (its first time ever)
Mac, 869th (back after dropping out)
Trace, 872nd (its first time ever)
Raleigh, 879th (back after dropping out)
Tobias, 880th (back after dropping out)
Hoyt, 884th (back after dropping out)
Malcom, 887th (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1965?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 16% of the girls counted in 1965, and the top ten boys' names to 28.4% of the boys. In 1945, those shares were 23.8% for girls and 34.3% 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.