Popular baby names in Illinois, 1956

The most popular baby names in Illinois in 1956 were Mary for girls (4,010 babies) and Michael for boys (5,952). Social Security records list 217,224 babies born in Illinois in 1956 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in Illinois in 1956

Names given at least 15 times in Illinois that year and at least twice as common as in the US as a whole.

Girls

Therese: 127 babies, 2.3× the national rate
Adrienne: 73 babies, 2× the national rate

Boys

Terrence: 181 babies, 2.3× the national rate
Derrick: 97 babies, 2.3× the national rate

Top 50 girls' and boys' names in Illinois, 1956

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1955	US rank
1	Mary	4,010	–	1
2	Debra	3,192	–	2
3	Susan	3,078	–	5
4	Linda	2,744	–	3
5	Patricia	2,507	↑1	6
6	Deborah	2,407	↓1	4
7	Karen	2,368	↑1	7
8	Nancy	1,972	↓1	11
9	Barbara	1,870	–	9
10	Cynthia	1,867	↑3	8
11	Pamela	1,642	↓1	12
12	Donna	1,585	–	10
13	Diane	1,560	↓2	15
14	Kathleen	1,547	–	17
15	Sharon	1,399	↑2	13
16	Sandra	1,354	↓1	14
17	Carol	1,349	↓1	16
18	Cheryl	1,198	↑1	18
19	Janet	1,167	↓1	21
20	Denise	908	–	23
21	Catherine	830	↑1	28
22	Elizabeth	830	↓1	22
23	Brenda	811	↑2	19
24	Margaret	811	↓1	25
25	Laura	803	↑4	34
26	Janice	793	↑1	26
27	Kathy	779	↓3	20
28	Christine	767	–	42
29	Judith	712	↓3	45
30	Cathy	634	↑10	36
31	Theresa	612	↑2	32
32	Joyce	598	↓2	30
33	Teresa	590	↑5	24
34	Julie	587	↑12	48
35	Kim	585	new	38
36	Kimberly	582	new	74
37	Robin	575	↑11	29
38	Lynn	571	↓4	58
39	Gail	549	↓8	49
40	Rebecca	523	↓8	27
41	Joan	510	↓4	52
42	Lisa	506	new	31
43	Jean	505	↓4	65
44	Paula	490	↓9	47
45	Cindy	484	new	37
46	Carolyn	466	↓4	33
47	Diana	466	↓3	56
48	Ann	460	new	46
49	Dawn	452	new	92
50	Connie	449	new	43

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1955	US rank
1	Michael	5,952	–	1
2	James	4,943	↑1	2
3	John	4,927	↓1	5
4	Robert	4,679	↑1	3
5	David	4,602	↓1	4
6	William	3,262	–	6
7	Mark	3,153	↑2	8
8	Richard	2,977	–	7
9	Thomas	2,966	↓2	9
10	Steven	2,653	–	10
11	Joseph	1,799	↑2	12
12	Daniel	1,791	–	18
13	Charles	1,686	↑1	11
14	Gary	1,676	↓3	13
15	Kevin	1,632	↑6	22
16	Donald	1,615	↓1	14
17	Ronald	1,578	↓1	15
18	Kenneth	1,490	↑2	16
19	Paul	1,474	↓2	17
20	Jeffrey	1,462	↓1	20
21	Gregory	1,436	↓3	24
22	Timothy	1,392	–	19
23	Edward	1,228	↑1	25
24	Larry	1,117	↑1	21
25	Dennis	1,069	↓2	26
26	Scott	1,027	↑4	34
27	Stephen	992	↓1	23
28	Bruce	895	↑1	33
29	Brian	891	↑6	32
30	Anthony	890	↓2	30
31	George	855	↓4	27
32	Randy	851	–	28
33	Terry	834	↓2	31
34	Douglas	799	–	29
35	Patrick	755	↓2	40
36	Keith	692	↑4	36
37	Lawrence	649	↓1	42
38	Peter	630	↑1	37
39	Raymond	627	↓1	39
40	Frank	619	↓3	38
41	Roger	560	–	41
42	Jerry	550	↑1	35
43	Alan	500	↓1	44
44	Carl	496	↑1	48
45	Gerald	463	↓1	49
46	Dale	435	↑1	50
47	Russell	431	new	52
48	Craig	429	↓2	51
49	Wayne	428	↓1	45
50	Martin	418	↓1	73

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