Top Baby Names of 1955

Most popular names for boys and girls in 1955.

What the Data Says About 1955

The Social Security Administration's national 1955 file shows 2,870,704 births concentrated in the top 100 boy and top 100 girl names, the segment of U.S. baby-name data released to the public for that year. The #1 boy name of 1955 was Michael, with 88,352 births registered nationally. The #1 girl name of 1955 was Mary, with 63,173 births nationally. The top 100 boys captured 1,588,348 births compared with 1,282,356 for the top 100 girls — consistent with the historical SSA pattern in which a smaller pool of boy names dominates a larger share of annual births while girl names are more evenly distributed.

1955 sits within a specific era of U.S. naming trends. Mid-century years like 1955 fall within the post-war baby-boom era; total U.S. birth volume was higher than today and a relatively small set of names (Robert, James, Linda, Mary) dominated national rankings. Michael and Mary leading 1955 fits this broader cultural signature.

These rankings come directly from Social Security Administration card applications and represent approximately 96% of all U.S. births in 1955. Names with fewer than five occurrences nationally in 1955 are excluded from SSA's public file to protect privacy, meaning the true number of unique names given in 1955 is significantly larger than any public top-100 list can show. Each spelling variation is counted separately — Sophia and Sofia, Aiden and Ayden — so rankings reflect only the specific spelling filed on the SS card, not combined name pools. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute naming advice.

← 1954
1955
1956 →

Top 100 Boys' Names Boy

Rank Name Births
1 Michael 88,352
2 David 86,301
3 James 84,184
4 Robert 83,755
5 John 80,122
6 William 59,985
7 Richard 53,564
8 Thomas 45,855
9 Mark 42,244
10 Steven 37,841
11 Charles 35,361
12 Gary 34,433
13 Joseph 31,587
14 Donald 27,727
15 Kenneth 26,744
16 Paul 26,698
17 Daniel 26,458
18 Ronald 26,173
19 Larry 22,820
20 Jeffrey 22,531
21 Stephen 22,155
22 Timothy 20,738
23 Dennis 20,434
24 Gregory 19,815
25 Edward 19,280
26 George 18,166
27 Kevin 17,156
28 Terry 15,586
29 Douglas 15,309
30 Randy 14,957
31 Anthony 14,172
32 Bruce 14,083
33 Jerry 12,975
34 Frank 11,109
35 Peter 11,003
36 Raymond 10,994
37 Roger 10,982
38 Scott 10,782
39 Keith 10,415
40 Brian 10,106
41 Patrick 9,871
42 Lawrence 9,128
43 Alan 9,033
44 Wayne 8,727
45 Danny 8,718
46 Ricky 8,327
47 Carl 8,293
48 Gerald 8,073
49 Christopher 7,920
50 Craig 7,447
51 Walter 7,299
52 Dale 7,182
53 Randall 6,688
54 Willie 6,628
55 Johnny 6,619
56 Arthur 6,571
57 Russell 6,538
58 Roy 6,329
59 Glenn 6,258
60 Jack 6,200
61 Henry 6,188
62 Philip 6,162
63 Harold 6,095
64 Stanley 6,050
65 Rodney 6,048
66 Andrew 6,013
67 Ralph 5,965
68 Joe 5,853
69 Billy 5,769
70 Barry 5,600
71 Samuel 5,534
72 Steve 5,510
73 Jeffery 5,464
74 Phillip 5,410
75 Bobby 5,223
76 Albert 5,180
77 Martin 5,067
78 Jimmy 5,037
79 Curtis 4,979
80 Ronnie 4,969
81 Eugene 4,792
82 Louis 4,777
83 Howard 4,747
84 Allen 4,742
85 Eric 4,659
86 Frederick 4,551
87 Micheal 4,531
88 Leonard 4,260
89 Harry 4,139
90 Ernest 3,973
91 Darrell 3,902
92 Eddie 3,782
93 Tony 3,752
94 Marvin 3,660
95 Melvin 3,646
96 Lee 3,606
97 Fred 3,501
98 Kim 3,490
99 Vincent 3,482
100 Francis 3,439

Top 100 Girls' Names Girl

Rank Name Births
1 Mary 63,173
2 Deborah 52,317
3 Linda 51,300
4 Debra 50,560
5 Susan 47,419
6 Patricia 46,226
7 Barbara 33,616
8 Karen 33,219
9 Nancy 30,024
10 Donna 27,941
11 Cynthia 27,178
12 Pamela 26,689
13 Sandra 25,111
14 Diane 23,291
15 Carol 22,047
16 Sharon 22,044
17 Kathleen 22,016
18 Brenda 19,115
19 Cheryl 19,110
20 Janet 17,920
21 Elizabeth 16,697
22 Kathy 15,324
23 Denise 14,560
24 Margaret 14,440
25 Janice 13,178
26 Teresa 13,124
27 Rebecca 12,397
28 Catherine 11,636
29 Joyce 11,285
30 Carolyn 11,178
31 Judith 10,434
32 Judy 10,376
33 Robin 10,217
34 Beverly 10,001
35 Connie 9,975
36 Betty 9,925
37 Shirley 9,756
38 Theresa 9,619
39 Paula 9,585
40 Christine 9,042
41 Laura 9,010
42 Gail 8,972
43 Ann 8,916
44 Cathy 8,665
45 Bonnie 8,637
46 Joan 8,557
47 Gloria 8,552
48 Lisa 8,539
49 Marilyn 8,409
50 Jane 8,344
51 Peggy 7,984
52 Vicki 7,975
53 Martha 7,930
54 Rose 7,852
55 Diana 7,846
56 Sherry 7,769
57 Sheila 7,661
58 Jo 7,656
59 Kathryn 7,641
60 Jean 7,480
61 Wanda 7,415
62 Lynn 7,354
63 Debbie 7,254
64 Dorothy 7,242
65 Katherine 7,240
66 Virginia 6,855
67 Julie 6,788
68 Vickie 6,638
69 Maria 6,209
70 Ruth 6,187
71 Rhonda 6,171
72 Rita 6,094
73 Jacqueline 6,040
74 Phyllis 5,690
75 Kim 5,687
76 Darlene 5,641
77 Elaine 5,635
78 Helen 5,592
79 Cindy 5,589
80 Valerie 5,512
81 Ellen 5,470
82 Victoria 5,359
83 Terry 5,353
84 Anne 5,218
85 Terri 5,153
86 Suzanne 5,137
87 Alice 5,079
88 Joanne 4,988
89 Lori 4,976
90 Wendy 4,955
91 Laurie 4,954
92 Marie 4,925
93 Michele 4,768
94 Anita 4,717
95 Sally 4,688
96 Frances 4,641
97 Michelle 4,526
98 Marcia 4,412
99 Leslie 4,405
100 Maureen 4,339
← 1954
1956 →

Nearby Year & Decade Rankings

Compare 1955 with adjacent years and the surrounding decade

1954 Top Names
National top 100
1956 Top Names
National top 100
1950s Decade
Decade-level rollup
All Rankings
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Compare 1955 leaders: Michael vs Mary → or pick any two names →

Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data (ssa.gov/oact/babynames).

Source: SSA Baby Names Methodology — names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are excluded to protect privacy.

Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from official U.S. government datasets. See our methodology for details.