Popular Names of 1956

The 20 most popular names given to female and to male babies born in 1956, as recorded, with each name’s rank in 2025. Hal peaked among human males this year, at 305th.

Table 1. Female names, 1956
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	Mary	61,741	125
2	Debra	48,324	4,478
3	Linda	48,084	902
4	Deborah	47,834	864
5	Susan	46,558	1,091
6	Patricia	43,329	1,336
7	Karen	40,052	1,281
8	Cynthia	32,339	1,014
9	Barbara	32,302	968
10	Donna	29,852	1,965
11	Nancy	28,784	967
12	Pamela	26,928	2,251
13	Sharon	26,881	1,256
14	Sandra	24,302	1,210
15	Diane	22,518	2,620
16	Carol	21,408	2,242
17	Kathleen	21,377	1,156
18	Cheryl	21,278	4,376
19	Brenda	19,341	1,527
20	Kathy	17,177	3,274

Table 2. Male names, 1956
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	Michael	90,691	21
2	James	84,897	6
3	Robert	83,924	92
4	David	81,652	35
5	John	80,804	23
6	William	58,991	9
7	Richard	52,915	234
8	Mark	48,828	245
9	Thomas	44,836	34
10	Steven	38,413	271
11	Charles	35,239	48
12	Joseph	32,749	29
13	Gary	31,842	1,073
14	Donald	28,223	690
15	Ronald	27,725	638
16	Kenneth	27,432	294
17	Paul	26,897	262
18	Daniel	26,655	22
19	Timothy	23,288	203
20	Jeffrey	23,285	552

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As recorded on the Social Security card application. Names given to fewer than five babies of a sex in a year are not published, so the file is a floor.