Top Baby Names of 1964

Most popular names for boys and girls in 1964.

What the Data Says About 1964

The Social Security Administration's national 1964 file shows 2,611,049 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 1964 was Michael, with 82,619 births registered nationally. The #1 girl name of 1964 was Lisa, with 54,271 births nationally. The top 100 boys captured 1,477,380 births compared with 1,133,669 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.

1964 sits within a specific era of U.S. naming trends. Mid-century years like 1964 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 1964 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 1964. Names with fewer than five occurrences nationally in 1964 are excluded from SSA's public file to protect privacy, meaning the true number of unique names given in 1964 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.

← 1963
1964
1965 →

Top 100 Boys' Names Boy

Rank Name Births
1 Michael 82,619
2 John 82,519
3 David 75,036
4 James 73,021
5 Robert 69,983
6 Mark 45,264
7 William 44,223
8 Richard 40,100
9 Thomas 34,451
10 Jeffrey 30,729
11 Joseph 30,563
12 Steven 29,709
13 Kevin 29,355
14 Scott 28,504
15 Timothy 28,097
16 Paul 26,877
17 Charles 25,903
18 Kenneth 24,857
19 Daniel 24,343
20 Brian 24,174
21 Anthony 20,125
22 Gregory 19,885
23 Christopher 19,628
24 Ronald 18,842
25 Donald 18,050
26 Gary 17,209
27 Edward 15,608
28 Todd 15,349
29 Stephen 14,967
30 Patrick 14,694
31 Douglas 14,603
32 Eric 14,567
33 George 11,792
34 Keith 11,655
35 Terry 10,868
36 Larry 10,677
37 Andrew 10,495
38 Randy 10,302
39 Peter 9,908
40 Jerry 9,608
41 Frank 9,338
42 Dennis 9,329
43 Matthew 8,983
44 Raymond 8,590
45 Jeffery 8,360
46 Bruce 7,893
47 Mike 7,768
48 Craig 7,751
49 Roger 7,387
50 Tony 7,196
51 Steve 7,091
52 Jeff 6,932
53 Alan 6,811
54 Ricky 6,756
55 Carl 6,661
56 Danny 6,475
57 Troy 6,307
58 Russell 6,241
59 Rodney 6,073
60 Gerald 5,870
61 Wayne 5,833
62 Joe 5,821
63 Martin 5,729
64 Vincent 5,677
65 Chris 5,638
66 Randall 5,511
67 Phillip 5,503
68 Lawrence 5,453
69 Barry 5,367
70 Bryan 5,274
71 Billy 5,193
72 Dale 5,161
73 Bobby 5,083
74 Johnny 5,068
75 Curtis 5,065
76 Philip 4,975
77 Bradley 4,960
78 Jon 4,912
79 Jimmy 4,911
80 Walter 4,844
81 Glenn 4,752
82 Tim 4,696
83 Jonathan 4,646
84 Jay 4,570
85 Dean 4,510
86 Samuel 4,463
87 Darryl 4,421
88 Shawn 4,402
89 Arthur 4,150
90 Roy 4,150
91 Willie 4,148
92 Henry 4,123
93 Allen 4,098
94 Jose 3,974
95 Greg 3,971
96 Darrell 3,969
97 Victor 3,945
98 Harold 3,874
99 Jack 3,808
100 Albert 3,761

Top 100 Girls' Names Girl

Rank Name Births
1 Lisa 54,271
2 Mary 40,987
3 Susan 31,515
4 Karen 30,247
5 Patricia 26,090
6 Kimberly 24,131
7 Donna 23,807
8 Linda 23,632
9 Cynthia 20,319
10 Tammy 20,045
11 Pamela 19,824
12 Deborah 19,305
13 Sandra 19,249
14 Laura 18,967
15 Lori 18,620
16 Elizabeth 17,294
17 Julie 17,283
18 Brenda 17,105
19 Barbara 16,483
20 Sharon 16,447
21 Teresa 16,422
22 Angela 16,257
23 Michelle 16,181
24 Debra 15,329
25 Denise 14,727
26 Nancy 14,695
27 Robin 14,329
28 Christine 14,268
29 Cheryl 14,079
30 Kathleen 13,232
31 Jennifer 12,956
32 Diane 12,866
33 Dawn 12,614
34 Tina 12,550
35 Kelly 12,469
36 Carol 12,125
37 Jacqueline 11,976
38 Theresa 10,557
39 Kathy 10,377
40 Tracy 10,161
41 Maria 10,147
42 Kim 9,980
43 Rhonda 9,713
44 Amy 9,575
45 Paula 9,501
46 Rebecca 9,475
47 Cindy 9,322
48 Janet 9,249
49 Margaret 9,100
50 Sherry 8,496
51 Sheila 8,473
52 Debbie 8,381
53 Melissa 8,318
54 Catherine 8,237
55 Wendy 8,077
56 Carolyn 8,066
57 Stephanie 7,938
58 Michele 7,905
59 Laurie 7,833
60 Ann 7,758
61 Jill 7,242
62 Terri 7,142
63 Diana 7,070
64 Connie 7,035
65 Beth 6,686
66 Valerie 6,616
67 Suzanne 6,485
68 Annette 6,189
69 Janice 6,162
70 Dana 6,086
71 Renee 6,011
72 Lynn 5,675
73 Leslie 5,598
74 Judy 5,531
75 Cathy 5,502
76 Anne 5,412
77 Andrea 5,387
78 Carla 5,378
79 Gina 5,229
80 Darlene 5,173
81 Wanda 5,165
82 Katherine 5,073
83 Regina 5,000
84 Kathryn 4,924
85 Anita 4,909
86 Sherri 4,872
87 Joyce 4,861
88 Christina 4,702
89 Bonnie 4,687
90 Monica 4,655
91 Beverly 4,606
92 Sarah 4,584
93 Jane 4,568
94 Colleen 4,544
95 Martha 4,450
96 Penny 4,396
97 Anna 4,292
98 Judith 4,191
99 Joan 4,149
100 Jean 4,097
← 1963
1965 →

Nearby Year & Decade Rankings

Compare 1964 with adjacent years and the surrounding decade

1963 Top Names
National top 100
1965 Top Names
National top 100
1960s Decade
Decade-level rollup
All Rankings
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Compare 1964 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.