Popular names of 1956, and how old they are now

People born in 1956 turn 70 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 4.1 million births in 1956 under names it lists, and by our estimate about 74% of them are still alive: about 3.1 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 1956: Steven, Joseph, Randy, Bruce, Catherine, Lynn, Carl, Vickie, Lee, Doreen, Daryl and Gerard.

Top girl names of 1956

Most popular girl names of 1956
#	Name	Born 1956	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Mary	61,741	49,000	66
2	Debra	48,324	39,000	66
3	Linda	48,084	39,000	70
4	Deborah	47,834	38,000	66
5	Susan	46,558	37,000	66
6	Patricia	43,329	35,000	68
7	Karen	40,052	32,000	63
8	Cynthia	32,339	26,000	60
9	Barbara	32,302	26,000	72
10	Donna	29,852	24,000	68
11	Nancy	28,784	23,000	68
12	Pamela	26,928	22,000	64
13	Sharon	26,881	22,000	68
14	Sandra	24,302	19,000	66
15	Diane	22,518	18,000	68
16	Carol	21,408	17,000	72
17	Kathleen	21,377	17,000	64
18	Cheryl	21,278	17,000	65
19	Brenda	19,341	16,000	63
20	Kathy	17,177	14,000	65
21	Janet	16,758	13,000	68
22	Elizabeth	16,355	13,000	44
23	Denise	14,509	12,000	59
24	Teresa	14,464	12,000	59
25	Margaret	13,913	11,000	61
26	Janice	13,017	10,000	70
27	Rebecca	12,168	9,800	48
28	Catherine	12,056	9,700	54
29	Robin	11,621	9,300	58
30	Joyce	11,091	8,900	72
31	Lisa	11,012	8,800	56
32	Theresa	10,841	8,700	61
33	Carolyn	10,634	8,500	67
34	Laura	10,570	8,500	51
35	Judy	10,197	8,200	72
36	Cathy	10,132	8,100	65
37	Cindy	9,978	8,000	57
38	Kim	9,897	7,900	63
39	Debbie	9,863	7,900	64
40	Beverly	9,449	7,600	70
41	Shirley	9,429	7,600	75
42	Christine	9,371	7,500	57
43	Connie	9,361	7,500	67
44	Betty	9,218	7,400	76
45	Judith	9,115	7,300	72
46	Ann	8,990	7,200	65
47	Paula	8,925	7,200	62
48	Julie	8,574	6,900	55
49	Gail	8,435	6,800	71
50	Jane	8,241	6,600	62

Top boy names of 1956

Most popular boy names of 1956
#	Name	Born 1956	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Michael	90,691	62,000	49
2	James	84,897	58,000	54
3	Robert	83,924	58,000	58
4	David	81,652	56,000	52
5	John	80,804	55,000	55
6	William	58,991	41,000	51
7	Richard	52,915	36,000	60
8	Mark	48,828	34,000	56
9	Thomas	44,836	31,000	53
10	Steven	38,413	26,000	52
11	Charles	35,239	24,000	54
12	Joseph	32,749	22,000	45
13	Gary	31,842	22,000	65
14	Donald	28,223	19,000	64
15	Ronald	27,725	19,000	64
16	Kenneth	27,432	19,000	57
17	Paul	26,897	18,000	57
18	Daniel	26,655	18,000	42
19	Timothy	23,288	16,000	50
20	Jeffrey	23,285	16,000	53
21	Larry	22,322	15,000	65
22	Kevin	21,761	15,000	45
23	Stephen	21,204	15,000	54
24	Gregory	21,082	14,000	54
25	Edward	19,436	13,000	56
26	Dennis	18,359	13,000	63
27	George	17,232	12,000	57
28	Randy	16,547	11,000	57
29	Douglas	16,389	11,000	59
30	Anthony	15,565	11,000	40
31	Terry	15,064	10,000	62
32	Brian	14,666	10,000	48
33	Bruce	14,660	10,000	63
34	Scott	13,214	9,100	53
35	Jerry	12,623	8,700	63
36	Keith	11,480	7,900	54
37	Peter	11,334	7,800	51
38	Frank	11,151	7,700	59
39	Raymond	11,108	7,600	56
40	Patrick	10,326	7,100	47
41	Roger	10,153	7,000	63
42	Lawrence	8,898	6,100	60
43	Ricky	8,780	6,000	56
44	Alan	8,734	6,000	49
45	Wayne	8,717	6,000	63
46	Danny	8,565	5,900	57
47	Christopher	8,384	5,800	41
48	Carl	8,313	5,700	60
49	Gerald	7,991	5,500	64
50	Dale	7,720	5,300	64

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 1956, 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 1956. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 1956 babies. How we calculate this