Top NZ Baby Names of 1966

Michelle (586) and David (1,139) were New Zealand's most registered names in 1966. Below are the top 50 girls' and boys' names for the year. See the whole 1960s for context.

Top 50 girls' names

  1. 1Michelle586
  2. 2Karen551
  3. 3Deborah494
  4. 4Susan490
  5. 5Joanne431
  6. 6Sandra425
  7. 7Lisa423
  8. 8Sharon391
  9. 9Tania391
  10. 10Tracey375
  11. 11Donna372
  12. 12Julie363
  13. 13Angela356
  14. 14Christine337
  15. 15Jacqueline317
  16. 16Nicola300
  17. 17Helen296
  18. 18Wendy295
  19. 19Fiona292
  20. 20Elizabeth275
  21. 21Catherine271
  22. 22Leanne247
  23. 23Kim246
  24. 24Maria240
  25. 25Jennifer238
  26. 26Linda225
  27. 27Sarah225
  28. 28Tracy216
  29. 29Andrea208
  30. 30Alison204
  31. 31Jane203
  32. 32Diane193
  33. 33Robyn191
  34. 34Denise180
  35. 35Mary179
  36. 36Kathryn175
  37. 37Suzanne173
  38. 38Janine172
  39. 39Margaret170
  40. 40Patricia167
  41. 41Heather165
  42. 42Anne164
  43. 43Amanda159
  44. 44Louise153
  45. 45Paula151
  46. 46Carol149
  47. 47Carolyn146
  48. 48Judith137
  49. 49Maree134
  50. 50Raewyn134

Top 50 boys' names

  1. 1David1,139
  2. 2Michael1,117
  3. 3Paul949
  4. 4Andrew865
  5. 5John805
  6. 6Peter783
  7. 7Mark726
  8. 8Stephen695
  9. 9Richard619
  10. 10Robert598
  11. 11Christopher567
  12. 12Craig501
  13. 13Shane461
  14. 14Wayne387
  15. 15Dean370
  16. 16Grant364
  17. 17Anthony359
  18. 18James358
  19. 19Darren353
  20. 20Gregory343
  21. 21Steven324
  22. 22Kevin306
  23. 23Ian303
  24. 24William271
  25. 25Philip263
  26. 26Gary255
  27. 27Simon240
  28. 28Tony231
  29. 29Timothy223
  30. 30Brett221
  31. 31Bruce221
  32. 32Brent218
  33. 33Brian206
  34. 34Murray199
  35. 35Phillip198
  36. 36Nigel188
  37. 37Martin180
  38. 38Stuart177
  39. 39Ross172
  40. 40Alan171
  41. 41Matthew171
  42. 42Warren161
  43. 43Glenn154
  44. 44Geoffrey148
  45. 45Thomas147
  46. 46Rodney144
  47. 47Colin143
  48. 48Russell141
  49. 49Raymond140
  50. 50Jeffrey139

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.