BNN
65 years ago

Baby Names from 1961

4,142,301 registered births | 2,123,940 boys | 2,018,361 girls

← 1960 1960s Overview 1962 →

Top 10 Baby Names of 1961

Top 10 Boy Names

1 Michael
86,968 births
2 David
84,805 births
3 John
79,973 births
4 James
75,959 births
5 Robert
72,963 births
6 Mark
57,786 births
7 William
48,035 births
8 Richard
41,140 births
9 Thomas
37,568 births
10 Steven
32,273 births

Top 10 Girl Names

1 Mary
47,688 births
2 Lisa
42,719 births
3 Susan
37,530 births
4 Linda
35,592 births
5 Karen
34,697 births
6 Patricia
28,889 births
7 Donna
28,674 births
8 Cynthia
24,389 births
9 Sandra
24,154 births
10 Deborah
24,105 births

Top Unisex Names of 1961

Terry
13,190 boys 4,362 girls
Robin
1,852 boys 15,651 girls
Kelly
3,013 boys 9,641 girls
Tracy
3,186 boys 6,988 girls
Chris
7,204 boys 1,568 girls

Names used for both boys and girls with at least 10% minority-gender share.

Notable Risers & Fallers in 1961

Names that jumped or dropped 50+ spots in the rankings compared to the previous year.

Biggest Risers

G Caroline
#254 → #176 (+78)
B Troy
#162 → #100 (+62)
B Adam
#249 → #193 (+56)
G Shari
#195 → #142 (+53)

New to the Top 200 in 1961

Names appearing in the top 200 for the first time ever.

Sean #177 Karla #195 Yvette #196 Derrick #197 Jodi #197 Andre #198 Tonya #199
1960 All Years 1962