Most Popular Baby Names of 1966

In 1966, Lisa was the most popular name for girls, given to 56,918 babies, and Michael topped the boys' list with 79,985. Lisa held on to number one for a fifth year in a row, and Michael held on to number one for a sixth year in a row.

Social Security counted 1,692,177 girls and 1,783,461 boys born in 1966 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 7,624 different girls' names and 4,540 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1966

Top girls' names, 1966
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1965
1	Lisa	56,918	same
2	Kimberly	32,232	up 2
3	Mary	28,890	down 1
4	Michelle	27,159	up 14
5	Karen	25,450	down 2
6	Susan	23,776	down 1
7	Patricia	20,112	down 1
8	Tammy	18,621	up 3
9	Angela	18,532	up 1
10	Jennifer	18,215	up 10
11	Cynthia	17,418	down 2
12	Donna	17,037	down 5
13	Julie	16,331	up 1
14	Deborah	16,250	down 1
15	Pamela	16,249	down 3
16	Elizabeth	15,887	same
17	Sandra	15,851	down 2
18	Linda	15,566	down 10
19	Laura	15,553	down 2
20	Christine	15,546	up 1
21	Lori	14,671	down 2
22	Melissa	14,254	up 16
23	Tina	13,892	up 6
24	Dawn	13,603	up 2
25	Brenda	13,294	down 2
26	Kelly	13,242	up 4
27	Barbara	13,123	down 2
28	Sharon	13,063	down 6
29	Teresa	13,024	down 5
30	Amy	12,998	up 5
31	Tracy	12,504	up 5
32	Denise	11,797	down 4
33	Nancy	11,729	down 1
34	Cheryl	11,713	down 3
35	Debra	11,261	down 8
36	Michele	10,689	up 12
37	Kathleen	10,491	down 3
38	Stephanie	10,160	up 6
39	Rhonda	9,805	down 2
40	Rebecca	9,777	up 1
41	Wendy	9,516	down 2
42	Robin	9,440	down 9
43	Kim	9,194	same
44	Maria	9,132	up 2
45	Diane	8,750	down 5
46	Theresa	8,699	down 1
47	Jacqueline	8,360	same
48	Carol	8,259	down 6
49	Jill	7,871	up 2
50	Paula	7,856	down 1
51	Sheila	7,208	down 1
52	Andrea	7,144	up 11
53	Sherry	6,983	up 3
54	Catherine	6,962	up 3
55	Margaret	6,960	down 3
56	Cindy	6,794	down 3
57	Janet	6,434	down 2
58	Gina	6,356	up 12
59	Kathy	6,319	down 5
60	Carolyn	6,121	down 2
61	Ann	5,993	down 2
62	Suzanne	5,684	up 3
63	Laurie	5,667	down 3
64	Diana	5,504	same
65	Beth	5,444	up 1
66	Renee	5,354	up 2
67	Christina	5,341	up 7
68	Dana	5,278	up 10
69	Tracey	5,127	up 16
70	Connie	5,102	down 9
71	Leslie	4,999	up 4
72	Terri	4,921	down 3
73	Debbie	4,846	down 11
74	Valerie	4,816	down 7
75	Monica	4,722	down 3
76	Stacey	4,586	up 8
77	Carla	4,508	down 1
78	Katherine	4,492	up 1
79	Annette	4,428	down 8
80	Janice	4,345	down 7
81	Lynn	4,306	down 1
82	Regina	4,295	same
83	Anne	4,151	down 6
84	Wanda	4,093	down 3
85	Sarah	4,034	up 7
86	Kathryn	4,008	up 1
87	Heidi	3,966	up 18
88	Anita	3,872	up 6
89	Shelly	3,856	up 9
90	Bonnie	3,842	down 1
91	Stacy	3,779	up 28
92	Sherri	3,747	down 1
93	Colleen	3,746	same
94	Darlene	3,728	down 11
95	Anna	3,682	up 1
96	Tonya	3,630	up 33
97	Judy	3,510	down 11
98	Tamara	3,482	up 6
99	Cathy	3,421	down 11
100	Joyce	3,399	down 10

Top boys' names, 1966
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1965
1	Michael	79,985	same
2	David	66,408	up 1
3	James	65,163	up 1
4	John	65,016	down 2
5	Robert	59,317	same
6	William	38,237	same
7	Mark	34,801	same
8	Richard	34,457	same
9	Jeffrey	30,200	up 1
10	Thomas	29,003	down 1
11	Timothy	28,923	up 1
12	Christopher	27,866	up 6
13	Steven	27,698	up 1
14	Brian	27,253	up 5
15	Joseph	26,981	down 4
16	Scott	26,036	down 1
17	Kevin	25,592	down 4
18	Paul	23,578	down 2
19	Daniel	23,269	down 2
20	Charles	22,252	same
21	Kenneth	20,834	same
22	Anthony	20,624	same
23	Gregory	17,009	same
24	Ronald	16,952	same
25	Eric	16,475	same
26	Stephen	14,742	up 2
27	Donald	14,713	down 1
28	Gary	14,155	down 1
29	Todd	13,557	up 1
30	Edward	13,279	down 1
31	Patrick	12,405	same
32	Keith	11,614	up 3
33	Douglas	11,401	down 1
34	Matthew	10,803	up 2
35	Rodney	10,268	down 2
36	Andrew	10,235	up 1
37	George	9,941	down 3
38	Larry	8,709	same
39	Peter	8,584	same
40	Terry	8,455	same
41	Jerry	8,429	same
42	Jeffery	7,904	up 5
43	Frank	7,787	same
44	Dennis	7,786	same
45	Randy	7,758	down 3
46	Craig	7,729	same
47	Raymond	7,376	down 2
48	Troy	6,905	up 5
49	Tony	6,571	down 1
50	Sean	6,490	up 29
51	Roger	6,296	down 2
52	Bryan	5,890	up 11
53	Bruce	5,843	down 3
54	Shawn	5,725	up 15
55	Chris	5,257	up 5
56	Carl	5,227	down 2
57	Alan	4,943	up 2
58	Vincent	4,941	up 3
59	Wayne	4,891	up 6
60	Gerald	4,863	up 4
61	Russell	4,857	down 3
62	Danny	4,721	down 6
63	Darren	4,718	down 11
64	Ricky	4,680	down 7
65	Jonathan	4,662	up 9
66	Lawrence	4,644	same
67	Steve	4,617	down 12
68	Bradley	4,555	up 4
69	Mike	4,526	down 18
70	Randall	4,448	up 3
71	Phillip	4,402	down 1
72	Jeff	4,387	down 10
73	Johnny	4,363	up 3
74	Joe	4,334	down 3
75	Curtis	4,242	same
76	Jon	4,239	up 2
77	Jimmy	4,238	up 4
78	Martin	4,210	down 11
79	Jose	4,194	up 10
80	Billy	4,182	down 3
81	Samuel	4,155	up 3
82	Bobby	4,068	down 2
83	Walter	4,057	down 1
84	Dean	4,041	up 4
85	Dale	3,985	down 2
86	Philip	3,954	up 1
87	Barry	3,916	down 1
88	Darryl	3,817	down 20
89	Jason	3,770	up 22
90	Glenn	3,668	down 5
91	Jay	3,598	down 1
92	Henry	3,575	up 2
93	Willie	3,546	same
94	Roy	3,522	up 1
95	Darrell	3,497	down 4
96	Arthur	3,482	same
97	Allen	3,420	down 5
98	Tracy	3,380	up 12
99	Harold	3,323	same
100	Albert	3,297	same

Biggest climbers in 1966

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1965.

Girls

Mechelle: up 359 places, from 941st to 582nd
Tia: up 311 places, from 782nd to 471st
Brooke: up 260 places, from 822nd to 562nd
Anthony: up 235 places, from 983rd to 748th
Adrianne: up 205 places, from 957th to 752nd
Adrian: up 173 places, from 951st to 778th
Jaime: up 172 places, from 985th to 813th
Malissa: up 167 places, from 896th to 729th
Shonda: up 167 places, from 949th to 782nd
Lizette: up 157 places, from 977th to 820th

Boys

Jared: up 271 places, from 747th to 476th
Deon: up 248 places, from 867th to 619th
Trevor: up 240 places, from 529th to 289th
Chadwick: up 194 places, from 942nd to 748th
Dorian: up 190 places, from 970th to 780th
Theron: up 188 places, from 754th to 566th
Brain: up 174 places, from 948th to 774th
Parrish: up 167 places, from 833rd to 666th
Baron: up 162 places, from 751st to 589th
Edgardo: up 148 places, from 978th to 830th

New to the top 1,000 in 1966

Girls

Audra, 283rd (back after dropping out)
Tabatha, 418th (its first time ever)
Joelle, 469th (its first time ever)
Tabitha, 524th (back after dropping out)
Lara, 619th (its first time ever)
Sonji, 639th (its first time ever)
Tamatha, 646th (its first time ever)
Tasha, 661st (its first time ever)
Tatia, 669th (its first time ever)
Gidget, 720th (its first time ever)

Boys

Heath, 361st (its first time ever)
Jarrod, 513th (its first time ever)
Michelle, 760th (its first time ever)
Illya, 829th (its first time ever)
Efrem, 831st (back after dropping out)
Isiah, 872nd (back after dropping out)
Jarrett, 876th (back after dropping out)
Susan, 886th (back after dropping out)
Arnoldo, 890th (back after dropping out)
Jame, 893rd (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1966?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 16% of the girls counted in 1966, and the top ten boys' names to 28.2% of the boys. In 1946, those shares were 24.5% for girls and 34.9% 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.