Top Baby Names of 1963

Most popular names for boys and girls in 1963.

What the Data Says About 1963

The Social Security Administration's national 1963 file shows 2,670,692 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 1963 was Michael, with 83,757 births registered nationally. The #1 girl name of 1963 was Lisa, with 56,040 births nationally. The top 100 boys captured 1,506,098 births compared with 1,164,594 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.

1963 sits within a specific era of U.S. naming trends. Mid-century years like 1963 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 Lisa leading 1963 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 1963. Names with fewer than five occurrences nationally in 1963 are excluded from SSA's public file to protect privacy, meaning the true number of unique names given in 1963 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.

← 1962
1963
1964 →

Top 100 Boys' Names Boy

Rank Name Births
1 Michael 83,757
2 John 78,616
3 David 78,450
4 James 71,291
5 Robert 69,997
6 Mark 49,332
7 William 44,444
8 Richard 40,767
9 Thomas 35,490
10 Jeffrey 31,699
11 Kevin 30,611
12 Scott 30,401
13 Joseph 30,080
14 Steven 29,322
15 Timothy 27,182
16 Charles 26,762
17 Paul 26,667
18 Kenneth 25,226
19 Daniel 24,816
20 Brian 24,122
21 Gregory 21,420
22 Anthony 20,242
23 Ronald 19,781
24 Gary 18,924
25 Donald 18,896
26 Christopher 18,341
27 Edward 15,320
28 Douglas 15,086
29 Stephen 14,993
30 Todd 14,789
31 Eric 13,277
32 Terry 12,459
33 Keith 12,242
34 George 12,079
35 Patrick 12,069
36 Larry 11,668
37 Randy 10,533
38 Jerry 10,188
39 Dennis 9,820
40 Peter 9,611
41 Frank 9,525
42 Andrew 9,514
43 Bruce 9,273
44 Mike 9,046
45 Raymond 8,779
46 Jeffery 8,482
47 Ricky 8,113
48 Jeff 8,108
49 Steve 8,051
50 Matthew 8,034
51 Craig 7,895
52 Tony 7,879
53 Roger 7,743
54 Carl 7,128
55 Danny 7,098
56 Alan 6,931
57 Russell 6,699
58 Joe 6,377
59 Chris 6,329
60 Gerald 6,153
61 Vincent 6,148
62 Martin 6,070
63 Wayne 6,030
64 Glenn 5,974
65 Randall 5,971
66 Troy 5,970
67 Barry 5,953
68 Lawrence 5,706
69 Dale 5,695
70 Phillip 5,653
71 Johnny 5,418
72 Curtis 5,376
73 Bryan 5,255
74 Billy 5,240
75 Bobby 5,212
76 Rodney 5,190
77 Walter 5,066
78 Jimmy 5,040
79 Tim 5,017
80 Darryl 5,012
81 Greg 4,853
82 Bradley 4,765
83 Philip 4,758
84 Jon 4,751
85 Jay 4,719
86 Dean 4,614
87 Samuel 4,522
88 Jonathan 4,469
89 Roy 4,438
90 Allen 4,339
91 Arthur 4,271
92 Jim 4,237
93 Willie 4,190
94 Henry 4,181
95 Darrell 4,094
96 Harold 4,092
97 Victor 4,055
98 Jose 4,013
99 Ralph 3,931
100 Albert 3,883

Top 100 Girls' Names Girl

Rank Name Births
1 Lisa 56,040
2 Mary 41,543
3 Susan 33,990
4 Karen 32,487
5 Linda 27,723
6 Donna 25,406
7 Patricia 25,374
8 Lori 23,903
9 Sandra 21,623
10 Cynthia 21,585
11 Kimberly 21,225
12 Tammy 21,193
13 Deborah 21,049
14 Pamela 20,588
15 Brenda 19,608
16 Laura 18,512
17 Barbara 18,295
18 Teresa 17,963
19 Sharon 17,801
20 Elizabeth 17,597
21 Debra 17,335
22 Julie 16,303
23 Nancy 16,267
24 Cheryl 15,046
25 Robin 14,434
26 Michelle 14,385
27 Denise 14,092
28 Kathleen 13,542
29 Christine 13,388
30 Angela 13,278
31 Diane 13,195
32 Kelly 12,550
33 Carol 12,492
34 Kathy 12,216
35 Tina 12,155
36 Jennifer 11,759
37 Cindy 11,087
38 Theresa 11,041
39 Kim 10,681
40 Janet 10,666
41 Debbie 10,444
42 Paula 10,151
43 Maria 9,849
44 Rebecca 9,392
45 Rhonda 9,356
46 Margaret 9,308
47 Laurie 9,275
48 Tracy 9,073
49 Sherry 9,064
50 Sheila 8,706
51 Jacqueline 8,560
52 Dawn 8,414
53 Catherine 8,294
54 Amy 8,228
55 Connie 8,164
56 Carolyn 8,124
57 Ann 7,975
58 Terri 7,705
59 Michele 7,512
60 Wendy 7,333
61 Melissa 7,319
62 Diana 7,309
63 Janice 7,072
64 Stephanie 6,824
65 Suzanne 6,820
66 Beth 6,676
67 Cathy 6,319
68 Jill 6,301
69 Valerie 6,173
70 Judy 6,134
71 Annette 6,048
72 Leslie 5,856
73 Lynn 5,826
74 Renee 5,776
75 Jane 5,764
76 Wanda 5,594
77 Anita 5,471
78 Sherri 5,457
79 Gina 5,336
80 Anne 5,329
81 Beverly 5,280
82 Carla 5,264
83 Bonnie 5,227
84 Joyce 5,221
85 Darlene 5,154
86 Penny 5,127
87 Katherine 5,125
88 Dana 5,049
89 Andrea 5,012
90 Martha 4,886
91 Judith 4,743
92 Regina 4,711
93 Kathryn 4,701
94 Sarah 4,571
95 Joan 4,562
96 Gloria 4,536
97 Jean 4,483
98 Colleen 4,447
99 Shirley 4,385
100 Vicki 4,362
← 1962
1964 →

Nearby Year & Decade Rankings

Compare 1963 with adjacent years and the surrounding decade

1962 Top Names
National top 100
1964 Top Names
National top 100
1960s Decade
Decade-level rollup
All Rankings
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Compare 1963 leaders: Michael vs Lisa → 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.