Popular names of 1965, and how old they are now

People born in 1965 turn 61 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 3.6 million births in 1965 under names it lists, and by our estimate about 85% of them are still alive: about 3.1 million people.

The year's top names were Lisa for girls and Michael for boys. Babies born that year are Gen Xers (see Gen X names).

12 names on AgeByName had their busiest year ever in 1965: Lisa, Rodney, Rhonda, Darren, Darrin, Darin, Ronda, Lynette, Kris, Vonda, Daren and Rosalind.

Top girl names of 1965

Most popular girl names of 1965
#	Name	Born 1965	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Lisa	60,271	53,000	56
2	Mary	34,270	30,000	66
3	Karen	32,869	29,000	63
4	Kimberly	28,836	26,000	48
5	Susan	26,321	23,000	66
6	Patricia	23,552	21,000	68
7	Donna	19,700	17,000	68
8	Linda	19,345	17,000	70
9	Cynthia	19,239	17,000	60
10	Angela	18,754	17,000	49
11	Tammy	18,013	16,000	58
12	Pamela	17,467	15,000	64
13	Deborah	17,081	15,000	66
14	Julie	16,987	15,000	55
15	Sandra	16,371	15,000	66
16	Elizabeth	16,321	14,000	44
17	Laura	16,218	14,000	51
18	Michelle	16,215	14,000	48
19	Lori	15,695	14,000	58
20	Jennifer	15,207	13,000	46
21	Christine	15,204	13,000	57
22	Sharon	15,129	13,000	68
23	Brenda	15,060	13,000	63
24	Teresa	14,578	13,000	59
25	Barbara	14,023	12,000	72
26	Dawn	13,344	12,000	57
27	Debra	13,098	12,000	66
28	Denise	13,036	12,000	59
29	Tina	12,831	11,000	56
30	Kelly	12,763	11,000	48
31	Cheryl	12,550	11,000	65
32	Nancy	12,255	11,000	68
33	Robin	11,995	11,000	58
34	Kathleen	11,778	10,000	64
35	Amy	11,530	10,000	47
36	Tracy	11,174	9,900	55
37	Rhonda	10,949	9,700	61
38	Melissa	10,563	9,400	46
39	Wendy	10,481	9,300	55
40	Diane	10,365	9,200	68
41	Rebecca	10,211	9,000	48
42	Carol	10,097	8,900	72
43	Kim	10,083	8,900	63
44	Stephanie	9,765	8,600	43
45	Theresa	9,685	8,600	61
46	Maria	9,480	8,400	45
47	Jacqueline	9,413	8,300	51
48	Michele	8,661	7,700	58
49	Paula	7,915	7,000	62
50	Sheila	7,904	7,000	63

Top boy names of 1965

Most popular boy names of 1965
#	Name	Born 1965	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Michael	80,992	66,000	49
2	John	71,493	58,000	55
3	David	67,825	55,000	52
4	James	67,666	55,000	54
5	Robert	63,106	52,000	58
6	William	40,111	33,000	51
7	Mark	38,244	31,000	56
8	Richard	36,817	30,000	60
9	Thomas	31,595	26,000	53
10	Jeffrey	29,574	24,000	53
11	Joseph	28,630	23,000	45
12	Timothy	28,334	23,000	50
13	Kevin	28,177	23,000	45
14	Steven	27,977	23,000	52
15	Scott	25,437	21,000	53
16	Paul	24,919	20,000	57
17	Daniel	24,833	20,000	42
18	Christopher	24,640	20,000	41
19	Brian	24,552	20,000	48
20	Charles	23,494	19,000	54
21	Kenneth	22,677	19,000	57
22	Anthony	20,326	17,000	40
23	Gregory	18,205	15,000	54
24	Ronald	17,619	14,000	64
25	Eric	16,826	14,000	44
26	Donald	16,033	13,000	64
27	Gary	15,259	12,000	65
28	Stephen	14,648	12,000	54
29	Edward	14,404	12,000	56
30	Todd	13,934	11,000	54
31	Patrick	12,929	11,000	47
32	Douglas	12,787	10,000	59
33	Rodney	11,086	9,100	56
34	George	10,680	8,700	57
35	Keith	10,670	8,700	54
36	Matthew	9,982	8,200	36
37	Andrew	9,673	7,900	36
38	Larry	9,403	7,700	65
39	Peter	9,395	7,700	51
40	Terry	9,088	7,400	62
41	Jerry	9,015	7,400	63
42	Randy	8,861	7,200	57
43	Frank	8,319	6,800	59
44	Dennis	8,215	6,700	63
45	Raymond	8,051	6,600	56
46	Craig	7,877	6,400	56
47	Jeffery	7,734	6,300	54
48	Tony	6,815	5,600	53
49	Roger	6,429	5,300	63
50	Bruce	6,325	5,200	63

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 1965, 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 1965. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 1965 babies. How we calculate this