Popular baby names in Pennsylvania, 1956

The most popular baby names in Pennsylvania in 1956 were Mary for girls (3,869 babies) and John for boys (6,534). John ranked #5 nationally for boys. Social Security records list 238,883 babies born in Pennsylvania in 1956 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in Pennsylvania in 1956

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

Girls

Maryanne: 59 babies, 3.7× the national rate
Maryann: 209 babies, 3.5× the national rate
Roseann: 72 babies, 3.4× the national rate
Helene: 73 babies, 2.8× the national rate
Marianne: 214 babies, 2.3× the national rate
Bernadette: 124 babies, 2.3× the national rate
Rosemarie: 109 babies, 2.3× the national rate
Eileen: 445 babies, 2.2× the national rate

Boys

Francis: 577 babies, 3× the national rate
Harry: 514 babies, 2.3× the national rate

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

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1955	US rank
1	Mary	3,869	–	1
2	Deborah	3,568	–	4
3	Susan	3,317	–	5
4	Linda	3,076	–	3
5	Karen	3,037	↑2	7
6	Patricia	3,017	↓1	6
7	Debra	2,899	↓1	2
8	Donna	2,418	↑1	10
9	Barbara	2,354	↓1	9
10	Cynthia	2,175	↑4	8
11	Kathleen	2,036	–	17
12	Diane	1,995	↓2	15
13	Nancy	1,890	↓1	11
14	Sharon	1,797	↑1	13
15	Carol	1,629	↓2	16
16	Sandra	1,424	–	14
17	Cheryl	1,364	↑2	18
18	Denise	1,265	↓1	23
19	Pamela	1,242	↓1	12
20	Margaret	1,130	–	25
21	Elizabeth	1,052	↑1	22
22	Kathy	967	↑2	20
23	Janet	956	↓2	21
24	Judith	849	↓1	45
25	Robin	843	↑5	29
26	Christine	830	↑1	42
27	Cindy	813	↑22	37
28	Theresa	811	↓3	32
29	Catherine	791	↓1	28
30	Joyce	738	↑1	30
31	Kim	722	new	38
32	Joan	713	↓6	52
33	Lisa	702	↑9	31
34	Bonnie	675	↓2	51
35	Brenda	674	↓2	19
36	Janice	669	↓7	26
37	Cathy	666	new	36
38	Darlene	644	↑10	71
39	Ann	622	↓2	46
40	Beverly	615	↓6	40
41	Lynn	598	↓3	58
42	Jane	585	↓7	50
43	Kimberly	559	new	74
44	Joanne	533	↓8	99
45	Ruth	507	↓6	77
46	Gail	506	↓6	49
47	Jean	490	↓4	65
48	Michele	487	↓3	100
49	Rose	474	↓3	64
50	Rebecca	471	↓3	27

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1955	US rank
1	John	6,534	–	5
2	Robert	6,256	–	3
3	David	5,674	–	4
4	Michael	5,605	–	1
5	James	5,416	–	2
6	William	4,557	–	6
7	Joseph	3,727	↑2	12
8	Richard	3,717	↓1	7
9	Thomas	3,696	↓1	9
10	Mark	3,008	–	8
11	Charles	2,128	–	11
12	Jeffrey	2,095	↑1	20
13	Gary	1,962	↓1	13
14	Edward	1,895	↑1	25
15	Donald	1,818	↓1	14
16	Daniel	1,815	–	18
17	Ronald	1,799	↑1	15
18	Paul	1,700	↓1	17
19	Kenneth	1,579	↑2	16
20	Steven	1,571	↑3	10
21	Kevin	1,550	↑4	22
22	Stephen	1,523	↓3	23
23	Timothy	1,424	↑1	19
24	George	1,381	↓2	27
25	Dennis	1,306	↓5	26
26	Gregory	1,174	–	24
27	Anthony	1,160	–	30
28	Bruce	953	–	33
29	Brian	922	↑15	32
30	Frank	912	↓1	38
31	Scott	895	↑4	34
32	Keith	888	↓1	36
33	Douglas	884	↓1	29
34	Raymond	881	↓4	39
35	Randy	824	↓1	28
36	Larry	794	↓3	21
37	Patrick	659	↑4	40
38	Barry	653	↑1	69
39	Terry	632	↓2	31
40	Gerald	616	↑3	49
41	Peter	601	↓1	37
42	Lawrence	596	↓4	42
43	Wayne	589	↓1	45
44	Francis	577	↓8	>100
45	Dale	554	new	50
46	Walter	527	↓1	53
47	Harry	514	–	95
48	Carl	501	↓2	48
49	Andrew	493	–	56
50	Alan	492	↓2	44

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