Popular names of 1966, and how old they are now

People born in 1966 turn 60 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 3.5 million births in 1966 under names it lists, and by our estimate about 86% of them are still alive: about 3 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).

9 names on AgeByName had their busiest year ever in 1966: Jill, Angelia, Danette, Barbra, Deron, Tad, Dawna, Collette and Theron.

Top girl names of 1966

Most popular girl names of 1966
#	Name	Born 1966	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Lisa	56,918	51,000	56
2	Kimberly	32,232	29,000	48
3	Mary	28,890	26,000	66
4	Michelle	27,159	24,000	48
5	Karen	25,450	23,000	63
6	Susan	23,776	21,000	66
7	Patricia	20,112	18,000	68
8	Tammy	18,621	17,000	58
9	Angela	18,532	17,000	49
10	Jennifer	18,215	16,000	46
11	Cynthia	17,418	16,000	60
12	Donna	17,037	15,000	68
13	Julie	16,331	15,000	55
14	Deborah	16,250	15,000	66
15	Pamela	16,249	15,000	64
16	Elizabeth	15,887	14,000	44
17	Sandra	15,851	14,000	66
18	Linda	15,566	14,000	70
19	Laura	15,553	14,000	51
20	Christine	15,546	14,000	57
21	Lori	14,671	13,000	58
22	Melissa	14,254	13,000	46
23	Tina	13,892	12,000	56
24	Dawn	13,603	12,000	57
25	Brenda	13,294	12,000	63
26	Kelly	13,242	12,000	48
27	Barbara	13,123	12,000	72
28	Sharon	13,063	12,000	68
29	Teresa	13,024	12,000	59
30	Amy	12,998	12,000	47
31	Tracy	12,504	11,000	55
32	Denise	11,797	11,000	59
33	Nancy	11,729	10,000	68
34	Cheryl	11,713	10,000	65
35	Debra	11,261	10,000	66
36	Michele	10,689	9,600	58
37	Kathleen	10,491	9,400	64
38	Stephanie	10,160	9,100	43
39	Rhonda	9,805	8,800	61
40	Rebecca	9,777	8,700	48
41	Wendy	9,516	8,500	55
42	Robin	9,440	8,400	58
43	Kim	9,194	8,200	63
44	Maria	9,132	8,200	45
45	Diane	8,750	7,800	68
46	Theresa	8,699	7,800	61
47	Jacqueline	8,360	7,500	51
48	Carol	8,259	7,400	72
49	Jill	7,871	7,000	57
50	Paula	7,856	7,000	62

Top boy names of 1966

Most popular boy names of 1966
#	Name	Born 1966	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Michael	79,985	66,000	49
2	David	66,408	55,000	52
3	James	65,163	54,000	54
4	John	65,016	54,000	55
5	Robert	59,317	49,000	58
6	William	38,237	32,000	51
7	Mark	34,801	29,000	56
8	Richard	34,457	29,000	60
9	Jeffrey	30,200	25,000	53
10	Thomas	29,003	24,000	53
11	Timothy	28,923	24,000	50
12	Christopher	27,866	23,000	41
13	Steven	27,698	23,000	52
14	Brian	27,253	23,000	48
15	Joseph	26,981	22,000	45
16	Scott	26,036	22,000	53
17	Kevin	25,592	21,000	45
18	Paul	23,578	20,000	57
19	Daniel	23,269	19,000	42
20	Charles	22,252	18,000	54
21	Kenneth	20,834	17,000	57
22	Anthony	20,624	17,000	40
23	Gregory	17,009	14,000	54
24	Ronald	16,952	14,000	64
25	Eric	16,475	14,000	44
26	Stephen	14,742	12,000	54
27	Donald	14,713	12,000	64
28	Gary	14,155	12,000	65
29	Todd	13,557	11,000	54
30	Edward	13,279	11,000	56
31	Patrick	12,405	10,000	47
32	Keith	11,614	9,600	54
33	Douglas	11,401	9,500	59
34	Matthew	10,803	9,000	36
35	Rodney	10,268	8,500	56
36	Andrew	10,235	8,500	36
37	George	9,941	8,300	57
38	Larry	8,709	7,200	65
39	Peter	8,584	7,100	51
40	Terry	8,455	7,000	62
41	Jerry	8,429	7,000	63
42	Jeffery	7,904	6,600	54
43	Frank	7,787	6,500	59
44	Dennis	7,786	6,500	63
45	Randy	7,758	6,400	57
46	Craig	7,729	6,400	56
47	Raymond	7,376	6,100	56
48	Troy	6,905	5,700	46
49	Tony	6,571	5,500	53
50	Sean	6,490	5,400	38

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 1966, 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 1966. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 1966 babies. How we calculate this