Top 100 Most Popular U.S. Baby Names Of 1961

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1961 Popular Names U.S. - Top 100 Baby Names
				Change from 1960						Change from 1960
Girls		Number of Girls	%	Rank	Number	Boys		Number of Boys	%	Rank	Number
1	Mary	47,680	2.296	0	-3,795	1	Michael	86,917	4.031	1	2,737
2	Lisa	42,702	2.056	4	9,000	2	David	84,758	3.931	-1	-1,171
3	Susan	37,521	1.807	-1	-1,682	3	John	79,929	3.707	1	3,836
4	Linda	35,579	1.713	-1	-1,732	4	James	75,924	3.522	-1	-908
5	Karen	34,697	1.671	-1	-1,683	5	Robert	72,901	3.381	0	541
6	Patricia	28,868	1.390	1	-3,236	6	Mark	57,767	2.679	0	-961
7	Donna	28,668	1.381	-2	-5,464	7	William	47,994	2.226	0	-1,356
8	Cynthia	24,378	1.174	1	-2,345	8	Richard	41,117	1.907	0	-2,429
9	Sandra	24,144	1.163	2	-428	9	Thomas	37,551	1.742	0	-1,722
10	Deborah	24,093	1.160	0	-1,172	10	Steven	32,240	1.495	0	-1,649
11	Brenda	23,775	1.145	2	-186	11	Jeffrey	32,010	1.485	3	3,180
12	Barbara	22,992	1.107	0	-1,453	12	Joseph	29,448	1.366	0	-298
13	Debra	22,151	1.067	-5	-4,588	13	Charles	29,192	1.354	0	-472
14	Lori	21,873	1.053	6	3,189	14	Kevin	28,894	1.340	1	506
15	Pamela	21,684	1.044	-1	-408	15	Timothy	28,240	1.310	-4	-2,235
16	Nancy	20,712	0.997	-1	-1,186	16	Kenneth	26,091	1.210	0	-1,592
17	Sharon	20,444	0.985	-1	21	17	Daniel	25,882	1.200	0	-70
18	Teresa	18,906	0.910	1	72	18	Paul	25,625	1.189	0	-9
19	Elizabeth	18,856	0.908	-1	-2	19	Scott	23,922	1.110	4	2,328
20	Cheryl	18,293	0.881	-3	-829	20	Brian	22,544	1.046	0	550
21	Laura	17,896	0.862	3	835	21	Gary	22,152	1.027	1	467
22	Kimberly	17,355	0.836	4	503	22	Donald	21,403	0.993	-3	-1,327
23	Julie	17,037	0.820	5	960	23	Gregory	21,354	0.990	1	1,045
24	Carol	16,669	0.803	-1	-792	24	Ronald	20,818	0.966	-3	-883
25	Kathy	16,379	0.789	-4	-2,101	25	Anthony	20,193	0.937	0	692
26	Diane	16,203	0.780	-4	-1,700	26	Christopher	17,226	0.799	3	1,874
27	Robin	15,645	0.753	6	1,667	27	Stephen	16,056	0.745	0	-202
28	Tammy	15,529	0.748	3	1,219	28	Douglas	15,964	0.740	2	818
29	Kathleen	15,393	0.741	-2	-691	29	Edward	15,874	0.736	-3	-710
30	Denise	15,376	0.740	-1	312	30	Larry	14,575	0.676	-2	-1,414
31	Debbie	14,881	0.717	-6	-2,175	31	George	13,639	0.633	2	-421
32	Janet	13,929	0.671	0	-322	32	Terry	13,189	0.612	2	-719
33	Cindy	13,385	0.645	-3	-1,564	33	Randy	12,590	0.584	-1	-1,624
34	Michelle	12,736	0.613	5	2,841	34	Dennis	12,485	0.579	-3	-1,826
35	Theresa	11,965	0.576	0	119	35	Keith	12,277	0.569	0	90
36	Kim	11,367	0.547	-2	-1,107	36	Mike	11,664	0.541	0	-381
37	Jacqueline	10,986	0.529	48	5,337	37	Jerry	11,372	0.527	0	-465
38	Angela	10,837	0.522	12	2,154	38	Eric	11,111	0.515	6	583
39	Christine	10,588	0.510	1	708	39	Patrick	11,050	0.513	6	686
40	Margaret	10,548	0.508	-4	-818	40	Bruce	10,713	0.497	-1	-240
41	Tina	10,519	0.507	5	1,392	41	Frank	10,421	0.483	-1	-337
42	Carolyn	10,502	0.506	1	1,096	42	Peter	10,337	0.479	0	-380
43	Laurie	10,427	0.502	-6	282	43	Craig	10,231	0.475	-2	-488
44	Rebecca	10,234	0.493	-6	266	44	Ricky	10,018	0.465	-6	-977
45	Kelly	9,637	0.464	6	958	45	Steve	9,994	0.464	-2	-659
46	Rhonda	9,465	0.456	-2	205	46	Todd	9,751	0.452	25	4,006
47	Jennifer	9,264	0.446	14	2,020	47	Roger	9,656	0.448	0	620
48	Catherine	9,246	0.445	-6	-291	48	Raymond	9,606	0.446	-2	-118
49	Dawn	9,148	0.441	8	1,334	49	Jeff	9,459	0.439	0	950
50	Connie	8,984	0.433	-3	106	50	Jeffery	8,917	0.414	5	1,260

United States name popularity data is provided by the Social Security Administration and is based on Social Security card applications.

Data for a given year is not made available until well into the next year.

Data reflects what was recorded and has not been edited for errors, so for example the gender associated with a name may be incorrect.

The more babies that are given a particular name, the higher the popularity ranking. If multiple names have the same usage, the tie is broken by assigning popularity rank in alphabetical order. Therefore in the case of names with fewer occurrences, names with the same number of occurrences may have vastly different rankings because they will be interranked alphabetically.

To safeguard privacy, the SSA does not include names with less than 5 occurrences.

Please note, we update the data each May when the SSA releases new figures. All data changes at that time, including previous years, which will change minutely based on new information.