Most popular baby names of 1959

In 1959, the most popular names for US babies were Michael for boys (85,291 babies, 4.0% of boys) and Mary for girls (54,504 babies, 2.7% of girls). The rest of the top five were David, James, John and Robert for boys and Susan, Linda, Karen and Donna for girls. SSA recorded 4,572 different boy names and 7,202 different girl names that year.

Top 100 boy names, 1959
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Michael	85,291	–
2	David	83,967	–
3	James	78,644	–
4	John	76,445	▲ 1
5	Robert	74,542	▼ 1
6	Mark	56,946	▲ 1
7	William	51,385	▼ 1
8	Richard	47,204	–
9	Thomas	40,291	–
10	Steven	33,595	–
11	Charles	30,796	–
12	Timothy	30,784	▲ 1
13	Joseph	29,537	▼ 1
14	Kevin	26,794	▲ 6
15	Kenneth	26,641	▼ 1
16	Jeffrey	26,280	▲ 5
17	Paul	25,709	▼ 2
18	Daniel	25,156	▼ 2
19	Donald	23,877	▼ 1
20	Gary	23,301	▼ 3
21	Ronald	23,122	▼ 2
22	Brian	20,735	▲ 2
23	Gregory	19,885	–
24	Scott	19,765	▲ 1
25	Larry	18,432	▼ 3
26	Anthony	17,975	▲ 1
27	Edward	16,916	▲ 1
28	Stephen	16,505	▼ 2
29	Dennis	16,042	–
30	Douglas	15,287	–
31	Randy	15,041	▲ 1
32	George	15,010	▼ 1
33	Terry	14,546	–
34	Ricky	13,227	–
35	Christopher	12,916	▲ 4
36	Jerry	12,326	▼ 1
37	Mike	11,997	▲ 3
38	Bruce	11,912	▼ 2
39	Keith	11,759	▼ 2
40	Peter	11,290	▲ 1
41	Steve	11,067	▲ 3
42	Frank	10,941	▼ 4
43	Patrick	10,557	▼ 1
44	Craig	9,932	▲ 9
45	Raymond	9,798	▼ 2
46	Eric	9,729	▲ 4
47	Roger	8,794	–
48	Danny	8,728	▼ 3
49	Dale	8,343	▼ 3
50	Alan	8,152	▼ 1
51	Wayne	7,878	▼ 3
52	Jeff	7,730	▲ 16
53	Tony	7,565	▲ 4
54	Carl	7,504	▼ 3
55	Jeffery	7,489	▲ 4
56	Russell	7,480	▼ 2
57	Joe	7,388	▼ 1
58	Andrew	7,089	▼ 3
59	Randall	7,060	▲ 3
60	Tim	6,828	▲ 14
61	Gerald	6,635	▼ 3
62	Lawrence	6,600	▼ 10
63	Matthew	6,544	▼ 3
64	Johnny	6,308	▼ 3
65	Billy	6,307	▼ 1
66	Walter	6,129	▼ 3
67	Rodney	5,915	▼ 2
68	Philip	5,862	▼ 1
69	Jimmy	5,829	▲ 4
70	Jim	5,687	▲ 17
71	Chris	5,678	▲ 22
72	Bobby	5,676	▼ 3
73	Barry	5,602	▲ 6
74	Phillip	5,597	▲ 7
75	Curtis	5,534	▲ 7
76	Arthur	5,474	▼ 4
77	Ronnie	5,474	▼ 11
78	Willie	5,375	▼ 8
79	Glenn	5,351	▼ 2
80	Martin	5,351	▼ 9
81	Roy	5,183	▼ 6
82	Tom	5,068	▲ 14
83	Henry	5,063	–
84	Ralph	5,051	▼ 6
85	Jack	5,016	▼ 5
86	Samuel	4,953	▼ 1
87	Harold	4,944	▼ 3
88	Jay	4,940	▼ 2
89	Rick	4,936	▼ 13
90	Darrell	4,647	–
91	Greg	4,637	▲ 14
92	Albert	4,607	▼ 3
93	Bill	4,597	▲ 6
94	Bryan	4,489	▲ 7
95	Dean	4,426	▲ 2
96	Micheal	4,371	▼ 5
97	Allen	4,367	▼ 5
98	Stanley	4,343	▼ 10
99	Todd	4,332	▲ 17
100	Louis	4,313	▼ 6

Top 100 girl names, 1959
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Mary	54,504	–
2	Susan	41,616	–
3	Linda	40,412	–
4	Karen	36,783	–
5	Donna	36,469	▲ 5
6	Patricia	35,224	▼ 1
7	Debra	31,387	▼ 1
8	Cynthia	30,185	–
9	Deborah	29,549	▼ 2
10	Lisa	25,702	▲ 9
11	Barbara	25,357	▼ 2
12	Pamela	24,712	▼ 1
13	Sandra	23,361	▲ 2
14	Nancy	23,078	▼ 2
15	Kathy	21,814	▼ 1
16	Brenda	21,423	–
17	Sharon	21,291	–
18	Cheryl	20,949	▼ 5
19	Diane	19,972	▼ 1
20	Debbie	19,542	▲ 4
21	Elizabeth	18,422	▲ 1
22	Carol	18,137	▼ 2
23	Kathleen	17,629	▼ 2
24	Teresa	17,401	▲ 2
25	Cindy	16,972	–
26	Julie	16,211	▼ 3
27	Lori	15,031	▲ 3
28	Janet	14,962	–
29	Denise	14,663	▼ 2
30	Laura	14,529	▼ 1
31	Tammy	13,707	▲ 13
32	Robin	12,854	–
33	Kimberly	12,791	▲ 6
34	Theresa	11,655	▼ 1
35	Kim	11,596	▲ 5
36	Margaret	11,577	▼ 5
37	Janice	10,489	▼ 2
38	Rebecca	10,474	▲ 3
39	Cathy	10,408	▼ 5
40	Catherine	10,022	▼ 2
41	Judy	9,884	▼ 5
42	Carolyn	9,726	▼ 5
43	Christine	9,470	–
44	Ann	8,919	▲ 3
45	Rhonda	8,862	▲ 3
46	Terri	8,783	▲ 5
47	Michelle	8,777	▲ 9
48	Connie	8,656	▲ 2
49	Diana	8,637	▼ 4
50	Joyce	8,520	▼ 4
51	Paula	8,059	▲ 2
52	Sheila	7,985	▲ 7
53	Tina	7,919	▲ 18
54	Dawn	7,899	▲ 30
55	Beverly	7,795	–
56	Laurie	7,534	▲ 14
57	Peggy	7,416	▼ 15
58	Sherry	7,341	▲ 9
59	Betty	7,313	▼ 5
60	Valerie	7,304	▲ 4
61	Shirley	7,284	▼ 9
62	Maria	7,247	▲ 3
63	Lynn	7,058	▼ 3
64	Annette	6,919	▲ 12
65	Wanda	6,907	▲ 1
66	Darlene	6,875	▼ 17
67	Jane	6,863	▼ 6
68	Angela	6,773	▲ 15
69	Kathryn	6,745	▼ 11
70	Judith	6,566	▼ 8
71	Bonnie	6,458	▼ 8
72	Martha	6,439	▼ 3
73	Vicki	6,430	▼ 16
74	Kelly	6,379	▲ 34
75	Gail	6,345	▼ 3
76	Joan	6,337	▼ 8
77	Jean	6,234	▼ 4
78	Jennifer	6,232	▲ 3
79	Katherine	6,138	▼ 5
80	Beth	6,068	▲ 15
81	Gloria	5,921	▼ 4
82	Anne	5,745	▲ 5
83	Wendy	5,713	▲ 24
84	Leslie	5,651	▼ 5
85	Amy	5,580	▲ 12
86	Jill	5,554	▲ 12
87	Anita	5,475	▼ 5
88	Rose	5,446	▼ 10
89	Michele	5,445	▲ 3
90	Vickie	5,420	▼ 15
91	Ellen	5,397	▲ 2
92	Joanne	5,347	▼ 12
93	Virginia	5,256	▼ 8
94	Dorothy	5,231	▼ 8
95	Terry	5,214	▼ 6
96	Suzanne	5,162	▲ 8
97	Ruth	5,056	▼ 7
98	Rita	4,951	▼ 10
99	Anna	4,878	▲ 4
100	Renee	4,845	▲ 5

Source: US Social Security Administration baby name data, 1959. Counts are Social Security card applications for US births; SSA leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies in a year. Updated 2026-10-05. How these numbers are made.