Popular names of 1955, and how old they are now

People born in 1955 turn 71 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 4 million births in 1955 under names it lists, and by our estimate about 73% of them are still alive: about 2.9 million people.

The year's top names were Mary for girls and Michael for boys. Babies born that year are Baby Boomers (see Boomer names).

12 names on AgeByName had their busiest year ever in 1955: David, Debra, Susan, Diane, Terry, Connie, Alan, Marla, Terrence, Suzan, Roxann and Rosalyn.

Top girl names of 1955

Most popular girl names of 1955
#	Name	Born 1955	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Mary	63,174	50,000	66
2	Deborah	52,318	41,000	66
3	Linda	51,300	41,000	70
4	Debra	50,563	40,000	66
5	Susan	47,418	37,000	66
6	Patricia	46,226	37,000	68
7	Barbara	33,617	27,000	72
8	Karen	33,217	26,000	63
9	Nancy	30,023	24,000	68
10	Donna	27,940	22,000	68
11	Cynthia	27,178	21,000	60
12	Pamela	26,690	21,000	64
13	Sandra	25,112	20,000	66
14	Diane	23,290	18,000	68
15	Carol	22,046	17,000	72
16	Sharon	22,044	17,000	68
17	Kathleen	22,014	17,000	64
18	Brenda	19,114	15,000	63
19	Cheryl	19,111	15,000	65
20	Janet	17,920	14,000	68
21	Elizabeth	16,696	13,000	44
22	Kathy	15,324	12,000	65
23	Denise	14,560	12,000	59
24	Margaret	14,440	11,000	61
25	Janice	13,178	10,000	70
26	Teresa	13,126	10,000	59
27	Rebecca	12,398	9,800	48
28	Catherine	11,636	9,200	54
29	Joyce	11,287	8,900	72
30	Carolyn	11,179	8,800	67
31	Judith	10,436	8,200	72
32	Judy	10,376	8,200	72
33	Robin	10,217	8,100	58
34	Beverly	10,001	7,900	70
35	Connie	9,975	7,900	67
36	Betty	9,924	7,800	76
37	Shirley	9,755	7,700	75
38	Theresa	9,620	7,600	61
39	Paula	9,585	7,600	62
40	Christine	9,042	7,100	57
41	Laura	9,008	7,100	51
42	Gail	8,972	7,100	71
43	Ann	8,916	7,000	65
44	Cathy	8,665	6,800	65
45	Bonnie	8,637	6,800	66
46	Joan	8,557	6,800	73
47	Gloria	8,551	6,800	66
48	Lisa	8,539	6,700	56
49	Marilyn	8,409	6,600	69
50	Jane	8,343	6,600	62

Top boy names of 1955

Most popular boy names of 1955
#	Name	Born 1955	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Michael	88,355	59,000	49
2	David	86,306	58,000	52
3	James	84,186	56,000	54
4	Robert	83,758	56,000	58
5	John	80,128	54,000	55
6	William	59,990	40,000	51
7	Richard	53,566	36,000	60
8	Thomas	45,855	31,000	53
9	Mark	42,255	28,000	56
10	Steven	37,847	25,000	52
11	Charles	35,365	24,000	54
12	Gary	34,433	23,000	65
13	Joseph	31,589	21,000	45
14	Donald	27,726	19,000	64
15	Kenneth	26,743	18,000	57
16	Paul	26,701	18,000	57
17	Daniel	26,460	18,000	42
18	Ronald	26,172	18,000	64
19	Larry	22,819	15,000	65
20	Jeffrey	22,533	15,000	53
21	Stephen	22,155	15,000	54
22	Timothy	20,738	14,000	50
23	Dennis	20,436	14,000	63
24	Gregory	19,815	13,000	54
25	Edward	19,280	13,000	56
26	George	18,167	12,000	57
27	Kevin	17,158	11,000	45
28	Terry	15,586	10,000	62
29	Douglas	15,311	10,000	59
30	Randy	14,958	10,000	57
31	Anthony	14,170	9,500	40
32	Bruce	14,082	9,400	63
33	Jerry	12,975	8,700	63
34	Frank	11,109	7,400	59
35	Peter	11,003	7,400	51
36	Raymond	10,994	7,400	56
37	Roger	10,979	7,400	63
38	Scott	10,782	7,200	53
39	Keith	10,418	7,000	54
40	Brian	10,109	6,800	48
41	Patrick	9,869	6,600	47
42	Lawrence	9,128	6,100	60
43	Alan	9,037	6,100	49
44	Wayne	8,728	5,800	63
45	Danny	8,721	5,800	57
46	Ricky	8,329	5,600	56
47	Carl	8,294	5,600	60
48	Gerald	8,072	5,400	64
49	Christopher	7,922	5,300	41
50	Craig	7,448	5,000	56

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 1955, from Social Security's records. “Alive today” estimates how many of them are still living, using SSA's cohort life tables for people born in 1955. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 1955 babies. How we calculate this