Top Baby Names of 1965

Most popular names for boys and girls in 1965.

What the Data Says About 1965

The Social Security Administration's national 1965 file shows 2,434,484 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 1965 was Michael, with 81,002 births registered nationally. The #1 girl name of 1965 was Lisa, with 60,269 births nationally. The top 100 boys captured 1,377,280 births compared with 1,057,204 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.

1965 sits within a specific era of U.S. naming trends. Mid-century years like 1965 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 1965 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 1965. Names with fewer than five occurrences nationally in 1965 are excluded from SSA's public file to protect privacy, meaning the true number of unique names given in 1965 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.

← 1964
1965
1966 →

Top 100 Boys' Names Boy

Rank Name Births
1 Michael 81,002
2 John 71,499
3 David 67,828
4 James 67,674
5 Robert 63,112
6 William 40,111
7 Mark 38,245
8 Richard 36,826
9 Thomas 31,606
10 Jeffrey 29,577
11 Joseph 28,633
12 Timothy 28,332
13 Kevin 28,183
14 Steven 27,977
15 Scott 25,436
16 Paul 24,921
17 Daniel 24,834
18 Christopher 24,639
19 Brian 24,550
20 Charles 23,500
21 Kenneth 22,677
22 Anthony 20,329
23 Gregory 18,205
24 Ronald 17,617
25 Eric 16,830
26 Donald 16,033
27 Gary 15,259
28 Stephen 14,649
29 Edward 14,411
30 Todd 13,934
31 Patrick 12,931
32 Douglas 12,788
33 Rodney 11,086
34 George 10,678
35 Keith 10,671
36 Matthew 9,984
37 Andrew 9,674
38 Larry 9,405
39 Peter 9,396
40 Terry 9,090
41 Jerry 9,014
42 Randy 8,862
43 Frank 8,317
44 Dennis 8,215
45 Raymond 8,050
46 Craig 7,876
47 Jeffery 7,737
48 Tony 6,818
49 Roger 6,432
50 Bruce 6,325
51 Mike 6,037
52 Darren 5,938
53 Troy 5,857
54 Carl 5,797
55 Steve 5,685
56 Danny 5,675
57 Ricky 5,658
58 Russell 5,645
59 Alan 5,613
60 Chris 5,480
61 Vincent 5,428
62 Jeff 5,409
63 Bryan 5,344
64 Gerald 5,252
65 Wayne 5,115
66 Lawrence 4,962
67 Martin 4,934
68 Darryl 4,926
69 Shawn 4,924
70 Phillip 4,891
71 Joe 4,834
72 Bradley 4,787
73 Randall 4,753
74 Jonathan 4,723
75 Curtis 4,687
76 Johnny 4,685
77 Billy 4,650
78 Jon 4,599
79 Sean 4,596
80 Bobby 4,588
81 Jimmy 4,532
82 Walter 4,484
83 Dale 4,397
84 Samuel 4,394
85 Glenn 4,358
86 Barry 4,325
87 Philip 4,279
88 Dean 4,098
89 Jose 3,965
90 Jay 3,942
91 Darrell 3,890
92 Allen 3,836
93 Willie 3,808
94 Henry 3,802
95 Roy 3,784
96 Arthur 3,777
97 Tim 3,718
98 Victor 3,683
99 Harold 3,539
100 Albert 3,419

Top 100 Girls' Names Girl

Rank Name Births
1 Lisa 60,269
2 Mary 34,271
3 Karen 32,870
4 Kimberly 28,837
5 Susan 26,322
6 Patricia 23,553
7 Donna 19,700
8 Linda 19,343
9 Cynthia 19,242
10 Angela 18,752
11 Tammy 18,012
12 Pamela 17,468
13 Deborah 17,084
14 Julie 16,988
15 Sandra 16,370
16 Elizabeth 16,323
17 Laura 16,218
18 Michelle 16,215
19 Lori 15,700
20 Jennifer 15,206
21 Christine 15,201
22 Sharon 15,130
23 Brenda 15,057
24 Teresa 14,577
25 Barbara 14,023
26 Dawn 13,341
27 Debra 13,098
28 Denise 13,034
29 Tina 12,831
30 Kelly 12,763
31 Cheryl 12,552
32 Nancy 12,257
33 Robin 11,995
34 Kathleen 11,778
35 Amy 11,530
36 Tracy 11,173
37 Rhonda 10,947
38 Melissa 10,564
39 Wendy 10,481
40 Diane 10,364
41 Rebecca 10,210
42 Carol 10,096
43 Kim 10,084
44 Stephanie 9,763
45 Theresa 9,684
46 Maria 9,479
47 Jacqueline 9,411
48 Michele 8,665
49 Paula 7,914
50 Sheila 7,902
51 Jill 7,821
52 Margaret 7,796
53 Cindy 7,778
54 Kathy 7,762
55 Janet 7,654
56 Sherry 7,381
57 Catherine 7,243
58 Carolyn 6,966
59 Ann 6,782
60 Laurie 6,533
61 Connie 6,155
62 Debbie 6,088
63 Andrea 6,081
64 Diana 5,927
65 Suzanne 5,912
66 Beth 5,774
67 Valerie 5,649
68 Renee 5,497
69 Terri 5,375
70 Gina 5,266
71 Annette 5,262
72 Monica 5,113
73 Janice 5,031
74 Christina 4,977
75 Leslie 4,875
76 Carla 4,781
77 Anne 4,725
78 Dana 4,722
79 Katherine 4,706
80 Lynn 4,668
81 Wanda 4,655
82 Regina 4,549
83 Darlene 4,358
84 Stacey 4,268
85 Tracey 4,258
86 Judy 4,242
87 Kathryn 4,157
88 Cathy 4,151
89 Bonnie 4,129
90 Joyce 4,128
91 Sherri 4,064
92 Sarah 4,061
93 Colleen 4,029
94 Anita 4,017
95 Jane 3,927
96 Anna 3,920
97 Penny 3,899
98 Shelly 3,850
99 Martha 3,799
100 Melinda 3,796
← 1964
1966 →

Nearby Year & Decade Rankings

Compare 1965 with adjacent years and the surrounding decade

1964 Top Names
National top 100
1966 Top Names
National top 100
1960s Decade
Decade-level rollup
All Rankings
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Compare 1965 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.