Popular baby names in Illinois, 1961

The most popular baby names in Illinois in 1961 were Mary for girls (3,155 babies) and Michael for boys (5,411). Social Security records list 220,528 babies born in Illinois in 1961 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in Illinois in 1961

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: 137 babies, 2.4× the national rate

Boys

Darnell: 67 babies, 3.5× the national rate
Derrick: 192 babies, 2.4× the national rate
Terrence: 120 babies, 2.2× the national rate

Top 50 girls' and boys' names in Illinois, 1961

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1960	US rank
1	Mary	3,155	–	1
2	Susan	2,365	–	3
3	Lisa	2,173	↑5	2
4	Linda	2,165	–	4
5	Karen	2,030	↓2	5
6	Patricia	1,642	↓1	6
7	Laura	1,511	↑3	21
8	Donna	1,467	↓2	7
9	Cynthia	1,422	–	8
10	Deborah	1,371	↑3	10
11	Sandra	1,342	↑3	9
12	Nancy	1,341	↓1	16
13	Debra	1,340	↓6	13
14	Barbara	1,291	↓2	12
15	Lori	1,266	↑4	14
16	Julie	1,259	↑2	23
17	Pamela	1,243	↓1	15
18	Kathleen	1,166	↓1	29
19	Kimberly	1,133	↑5	22
20	Sharon	1,119	↑1	17
21	Cheryl	1,081	↑2	20
22	Diane	1,079	↓7	26
23	Brenda	1,066	↓3	11
24	Elizabeth	1,024	↑2	19
25	Denise	1,008	–	30
26	Carol	977	↑1	24
27	Kathy	923	↓5	25
28	Janet	889	↑1	32
29	Dawn	810	↑3	49
30	Teresa	807	↑1	18
31	Debbie	804	↓3	31
32	Michelle	786	↑7	34
33	Christine	764	↑2	39
34	Margaret	715	↓1	40
35	Tammy	714	↑2	28
36	Cindy	686	↓6	33
37	Robin	646	↑6	27
38	Jacqueline	645	new	37
39	Theresa	624	↓5	35
40	Catherine	611	↓2	48
41	Tina	596	–	41
42	Angela	568	new	38
43	Carolyn	559	new	42
44	Kim	546	↓8	36
45	Kelly	533	new	45
46	Janice	527	↓4	52
47	Laurie	526	↓3	43
48	Rhonda	516	new	46
49	Cathy	510	↓9	55
50	Rebecca	494	new	44

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1960	US rank
1	Michael	5,411	–	1
2	John	4,776	↑1	3
3	David	4,727	↓1	2
4	James	4,353	–	4
5	Robert	4,158	–	5
6	Mark	3,530	–	6
7	William	2,613	–	7
8	Thomas	2,482	–	9
9	Steven	2,235	↑1	10
10	Richard	2,196	↓1	8
11	Jeffrey	1,913	↑2	11
12	Kevin	1,866	↓1	14
13	Daniel	1,822	↓1	17
14	Timothy	1,717	–	15
15	Joseph	1,700	–	12
16	Scott	1,557	↑1	19
17	Brian	1,490	↑1	20
18	Charles	1,464	↑1	13
19	Kenneth	1,464	↓3	16
20	Gregory	1,337	↑3	23
21	Paul	1,320	↓1	18
22	Ronald	1,262	↓1	24
23	Anthony	1,253	↑1	25
24	Donald	1,248	↓2	22
25	Gary	1,111	–	21
26	Edward	953	–	29
27	Douglas	852	↑2	28
28	Christopher	848	–	26
29	Patrick	737	↑2	39
30	Larry	732	↓3	30
31	Keith	715	↑2	35
32	Mike	707	↑2	36
33	Stephen	691	↓1	27
34	Dennis	680	↓4	34
35	George	667	–	31
36	Eric	635	↑5	38
37	Peter	623	↑2	42
38	Randy	619	↓2	33
39	Frank	616	↓1	41
40	Steve	612	–	45
41	Terry	612	↓4	32
42	Craig	601	↑2	43
43	Jeffery	572	↑6	50
44	Bruce	567	↓1	40
45	Raymond	557	–	48
46	Jeff	553	↑1	49
47	Todd	539	new	46
48	Roger	515	↓2	47
49	Alan	496	↓1	51
50	Jerry	491	↓8	37

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