Grandma Names: The Most Common Names for Women 65 to 85

Ask a room of grandmothers their names and these are the ones you'll hear most. We counted the estimated number of living women aged 65 to 85 with each name: Mary leads with 910,000.

They're Baby Boom and Silent Generation names, given when Mary, Linda and Patricia were the most popular names in the country. Most of them are rare for babies today.

Grandma Names: The Most Common Names for Women 65 to 85
#	Name	Aged 65 to 85	Peak year	Alive	Average age
1	Mary	912,453	1921	1.67M	66
2	Linda	813,485	1947	1.06M	70
3	Patricia	631,049	1951	1.01M	68
4	Barbara	534,649	1947	798K	72
5	Susan	533,539	1955	862K	66
6	Karen	417,106	1957	793K	63
7	Deborah	406,206	1954	602K	66
8	Nancy	396,253	1947	628K	68
9	Sandra	384,336	1947	647K	66
10	Carol	360,243	1946	511K	72
11	Donna	359,098	1959	583K	68
12	Sharon	340,611	1947	535K	68
13	Debra	314,852	1955	455K	66
14	Kathleen	290,403	1951	501K	64
15	Cynthia	286,660	1957	589K	60
16	Brenda	269,201	1957	490K	63
17	Pamela	268,755	1954	488K	64
18	Diane	264,464	1955	387K	68
19	Margaret	227,117	1921	471K	61
20	Janet	225,112	1954	356K	68
21	Elizabeth	224,370	1990	1.13M	44
22	Cheryl	211,468	1958	356K	65
23	Carolyn	211,371	1947	351K	67
24	Judith	205,795	1943	284K	72
25	Judy	197,355	1947	259K	72

Grandma Names: The Most Common Names for Women 65 to 85, continued
#	Name	Aged 65 to 85	Peak year	Alive	Average age
26	Betty	188,965	1930	311K	76
27	Janice	184,147	1951	267K	70
28	Shirley	184,055	1935	295K	75
29	Joyce	180,600	1942	271K	72
30	Kathy	175,899	1958	272K	65
31	Lisa	143,998	1965	872K	56
32	Beverly	139,007	1953	215K	70
33	Christine	137,647	1952	457K	57
34	Joan	135,396	1932	220K	73
35	Catherine	135,297	1956	375K	54
36	Teresa	134,432	1961	338K	59
37	Gloria	134,170	1947	226K	66
38	Rebecca	133,523	1981	645K	48
39	Dorothy	133,172	1924	240K	72
40	Denise	129,780	1961	322K	59
41	Laura	125,075	1964	604K	51
42	Martha	124,827	1947	225K	66
43	Ann	122,995	1957	252K	65
44	Bonnie	122,772	1947	204K	66
45	Marilyn	121,274	1947	197K	69
46	Connie	118,395	1955	195K	67
47	Jane	115,657	1947	203K	62
48	Peggy	114,853	1958	167K	71
49	Virginia	113,683	1922	221K	66
50	Theresa	111,012	1961	262K	61

How this list works

Names where at least 90% of living people are women, ranked by the estimated number alive aged 65 to 85. Ages are estimates for people alive in 2026, from Social Security baby-name records and SSA life tables. How we calculate this

How this list works

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