Top Baby Names of 1966

Most popular names for boys and girls in 1966.

What the Data Says About 1966

The Social Security Administration's national 1966 file shows 2,327,438 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 1966 was Michael, with 79,984 births registered nationally. The #1 girl name of 1966 was Lisa, with 56,918 births nationally. The top 100 boys captured 1,318,713 births compared with 1,008,725 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.

1966 sits within a specific era of U.S. naming trends. Mid-century years like 1966 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 1966 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 1966. Names with fewer than five occurrences nationally in 1966 are excluded from SSA's public file to protect privacy, meaning the true number of unique names given in 1966 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.

← 1965
1966
1967 →

Top 100 Boys' Names Boy

Rank Name Births
1 Michael 79,984
2 David 66,417
3 James 65,163
4 John 65,015
5 Robert 59,309
6 William 38,240
7 Mark 34,802
8 Richard 34,458
9 Jeffrey 30,199
10 Thomas 29,005
11 Timothy 28,927
12 Christopher 27,867
13 Steven 27,699
14 Brian 27,255
15 Joseph 26,983
16 Scott 26,036
17 Kevin 25,594
18 Paul 23,578
19 Daniel 23,270
20 Charles 22,251
21 Kenneth 20,834
22 Anthony 20,627
23 Gregory 17,006
24 Ronald 16,954
25 Eric 16,472
26 Stephen 14,743
27 Donald 14,713
28 Gary 14,156
29 Todd 13,557
30 Edward 13,277
31 Patrick 12,407
32 Keith 11,614
33 Douglas 11,403
34 Matthew 10,805
35 Rodney 10,269
36 Andrew 10,234
37 George 9,942
38 Larry 8,707
39 Peter 8,583
40 Terry 8,454
41 Jerry 8,429
42 Jeffery 7,899
43 Dennis 7,787
44 Frank 7,787
45 Randy 7,760
46 Craig 7,733
47 Raymond 7,379
48 Troy 6,905
49 Tony 6,570
50 Sean 6,490
51 Roger 6,297
52 Bryan 5,891
53 Bruce 5,843
54 Shawn 5,725
55 Chris 5,257
56 Carl 5,227
57 Alan 4,943
58 Vincent 4,942
59 Wayne 4,888
60 Gerald 4,863
61 Russell 4,858
62 Danny 4,721
63 Darren 4,720
64 Ricky 4,681
65 Jonathan 4,663
66 Lawrence 4,643
67 Steve 4,617
68 Bradley 4,555
69 Mike 4,526
70 Randall 4,448
71 Phillip 4,403
72 Jeff 4,387
73 Johnny 4,364
74 Joe 4,333
75 Curtis 4,242
76 Jon 4,240
77 Jimmy 4,237
78 Martin 4,210
79 Jose 4,193
80 Billy 4,183
81 Samuel 4,158
82 Bobby 4,067
83 Walter 4,056
84 Dean 4,040
85 Dale 3,985
86 Philip 3,954
87 Barry 3,917
88 Darryl 3,817
89 Jason 3,768
90 Glenn 3,667
91 Jay 3,598
92 Henry 3,574
93 Willie 3,544
94 Roy 3,523
95 Darrell 3,496
96 Arthur 3,483
97 Allen 3,420
98 Tracy 3,379
99 Harold 3,322
100 Albert 3,297

Top 100 Girls' Names Girl

Rank Name Births
1 Lisa 56,918
2 Kimberly 32,231
3 Mary 28,889
4 Michelle 27,159
5 Karen 25,449
6 Susan 23,775
7 Patricia 20,111
8 Tammy 18,620
9 Angela 18,535
10 Jennifer 18,215
11 Cynthia 17,417
12 Donna 17,037
13 Julie 16,332
14 Pamela 16,250
15 Deborah 16,248
16 Elizabeth 15,886
17 Sandra 15,852
18 Linda 15,564
19 Laura 15,553
20 Christine 15,547
21 Lori 14,671
22 Melissa 14,253
23 Tina 13,892
24 Dawn 13,603
25 Brenda 13,295
26 Kelly 13,242
27 Barbara 13,123
28 Sharon 13,061
29 Teresa 13,024
30 Amy 12,998
31 Tracy 12,504
32 Denise 11,795
33 Nancy 11,730
34 Cheryl 11,713
35 Debra 11,262
36 Michele 10,686
37 Kathleen 10,492
38 Stephanie 10,161
39 Rhonda 9,805
40 Rebecca 9,777
41 Wendy 9,515
42 Robin 9,440
43 Kim 9,194
44 Maria 9,130
45 Diane 8,750
46 Theresa 8,700
47 Jacqueline 8,359
48 Carol 8,259
49 Jill 7,870
50 Paula 7,857
51 Sheila 7,208
52 Andrea 7,145
53 Sherry 6,983
54 Catherine 6,961
55 Margaret 6,961
56 Cindy 6,793
57 Janet 6,434
58 Gina 6,355
59 Kathy 6,319
60 Carolyn 6,120
61 Ann 5,992
62 Suzanne 5,684
63 Laurie 5,667
64 Diana 5,505
65 Beth 5,444
66 Renee 5,354
67 Christina 5,341
68 Dana 5,278
69 Tracey 5,127
70 Connie 5,102
71 Leslie 4,999
72 Terri 4,920
73 Debbie 4,845
74 Valerie 4,815
75 Monica 4,722
76 Stacey 4,586
77 Carla 4,508
78 Katherine 4,492
79 Annette 4,428
80 Janice 4,345
81 Lynn 4,306
82 Regina 4,295
83 Anne 4,151
84 Wanda 4,094
85 Sarah 4,035
86 Kathryn 4,008
87 Heidi 3,967
88 Anita 3,872
89 Shelly 3,856
90 Bonnie 3,841
91 Stacy 3,778
92 Sherri 3,747
93 Colleen 3,746
94 Darlene 3,728
95 Anna 3,679
96 Tonya 3,629
97 Judy 3,510
98 Tamara 3,481
99 Cathy 3,421
100 Holly 3,399
← 1965
1967 →

Nearby Year & Decade Rankings

Compare 1966 with adjacent years and the surrounding decade

1965 Top Names
National top 100
1967 Top Names
National top 100
1960s Decade
Decade-level rollup
All Rankings
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Compare 1966 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.