Top NZ Baby Names of 1961

Susan (767) and David (1,353) were New Zealand's most registered names in 1961. Below are the top 50 girls' and boys' names for the year. See the whole 1960s for context.

Top 50 girls' names

  1. 1Susan767
  2. 2Karen717
  3. 3Christine613
  4. 4Deborah543
  5. 5Sandra502
  6. 6Joanne493
  7. 7Julie479
  8. 8Donna440
  9. 9Sharon439
  10. 10Wendy411
  11. 11Linda398
  12. 12Robyn392
  13. 13Helen387
  14. 14Jennifer381
  15. 15Elizabeth363
  16. 16Judith322
  17. 17Margaret320
  18. 18Michelle316
  19. 19Jacqueline300
  20. 20Patricia294
  21. 21Carol292
  22. 22Mary285
  23. 23Catherine274
  24. 24Fiona274
  25. 25Debra270
  26. 26Lynette269
  27. 27Denise250
  28. 28Anne249
  29. 29Heather235
  30. 30Diane233
  31. 31Suzanne232
  32. 32Carolyn226
  33. 33Barbara225
  34. 34Nicola219
  35. 35Raewyn219
  36. 36Vicki211
  37. 37Angela201
  38. 38Kathryn193
  39. 39Jane186
  40. 40Kim180
  41. 41Janet176
  42. 42Dianne172
  43. 43Alison163
  44. 44Pamela162
  45. 45Shirley162
  46. 46Annette161
  47. 47Jan154
  48. 48Brenda152
  49. 49Bronwyn149
  50. 50Jillian148

Top 50 boys' names

  1. 1David1,353
  2. 2Peter1,214
  3. 3Michael1,181
  4. 4John1,145
  5. 5Mark1,017
  6. 6Stephen910
  7. 7Paul785
  8. 8Robert736
  9. 9Andrew674
  10. 10Christopher545
  11. 11Richard544
  12. 12Anthony533
  13. 13Kevin513
  14. 14Ian453
  15. 15Wayne436
  16. 16William407
  17. 17Gregory403
  18. 18Craig378
  19. 19Grant373
  20. 20Steven370
  21. 21Bruce352
  22. 22James352
  23. 23Gary329
  24. 24Murray325
  25. 25Graeme323
  26. 26Philip306
  27. 27Brian301
  28. 28Alan293
  29. 29Ross287
  30. 30Graham262
  31. 31Brent257
  32. 32Geoffrey245
  33. 33Colin244
  34. 34Barry235
  35. 35Martin228
  36. 36Dean222
  37. 37Neil217
  38. 38Russell214
  39. 39Trevor204
  40. 40Simon197
  41. 41Phillip193
  42. 42Allan191
  43. 43Kenneth190
  44. 44Raymond186
  45. 45Keith185
  46. 46Warren176
  47. 47Shane173
  48. 48Donald169
  49. 49Stuart168
  50. 50Tony167

About this data: figures come from Department of Internal Affairs birth registrations for 1954-2025. The DIA only publishes a name for a given year when at least 10 babies were registered with it, so rarer names - and rarer spellings - are missing entirely, and a name can drop out of the record in quieter years. Spelling variants are counted separately, and counts reflect first names as registered.