These Baby Names Were the Most Popular 50 Years Ago

Every year, the top baby names list evolves a little. And although the changes are not that noticeable from year to year, a decade, or five, can make a huge difference. Here’s a list of the most popular 20 names for boys and girls from 50 years ago.

The Social Security Administration has released lists of the most popular names for babies born in the U.S. every year since the 1880s.

Looking back in the lists from 50 years ago, or even more, can give us an idea of how traditional were parents’ choices back then, in comparison with some of the weirdest and bizarre names that new parents are giving their babies these days.

Some of the names from five decades ago remain popular in 2019, like Elizabeth, Michael, and William, but others have gone to the bottom in the rankings, like Tammy, Lisa, and Rodney.

Here are the 20 most popular baby names for boys and girls born in 1969:

Girls

1. Lisa
2. Michelle
3. Jennifer
4. Kimberly
5. Melissa
6. Amy
7. Angela
8. Mary
9. Tammy
10. Laura
11. Susan
12. Julie
13. Karen
14. Christine
15. Kelly
16. Elizabeth
17. Tracy
18. Patricia
19. Stephanie
20. Lori

Boys

1. Michael
2. David
3. James
4. John
5. Robert
6. William
7. Christopher
8. Mark
9. Brian
10. Richard
11. Jeffrey
12. Scott
13. Thomas
14. Steven
15. Joseph
16. Kevin
17. Timothy
18. Daniel
19. Charles
20. Anthony

According to the Social Security Administration, 833,254 baby boys were given the name Michael in the '60s, while 496,972 girls were named Lisa.

Although the administration hasn't released its list of top baby names for 2018 or 2019, other publications like Nameberry, released the first list of Top Names for 2019, and two new names are taking the lead on the list, Posie, for girls, and Milo, for boys.