Birth year

Born in 1958? Here's your year in charts

In 1958, the top baby names were Mary and Michael, unemployment averaged 6.8%, and a newborn could expect to live 69.6 years.

Top baby names of 1958

Girls

  1. 1. Mary 55,848 babies, 2.8% of girls
  2. 2. Susan 45,175 babies, 2.2% of girls
  3. 3. Linda 41,904 babies, 2.1% of girls
  4. 4. Karen 38,487 babies, 1.9% of girls
  5. 5. Patricia 37,961 babies, 1.9% of girls

Boys

  1. 1. Michael 90,604 babies, 4.3% of boys
  2. 2. David 82,681 babies, 3.9% of boys
  3. 3. James 78,774 babies, 3.7% of boys
  4. 4. Robert 77,338 babies, 3.6% of boys
  5. 5. John 76,057 babies, 3.6% of boys

From Social Security card applications for babies born in the U.S.; names given to fewer than 5 babies are left out. Pick a name to see how many babies got it every year since 1880.

1958 then vs. now

  • Unemployment rate

    See the chart

    6.8% in 1958, compared with 4.2% in September 2026

    Share of the labor force out of work, the year's average.

  • Life expectancy at birth

    See the chart

    69.6 years in 1958, compared with 78.7 years in 2018

    How long a baby born that year could expect to live, at that year's death rates.

Prices are in dollars of the day, not adjusted for inflation. A figure is left out when its chart doesn't cover 1958.

$100 in 1958 buys about as much as $1,167.57 in September 2026. Try the inflation calculator

Share this year

Try another year

← 1957 1959 →

Sources and dates