Birth year

Born in 1965? Here's your year in charts

In 1965, the top baby names were Lisa and Michael, unemployment averaged 4.5%, a newborn could expect to live 70.2 years, and the world had 3.32 billion people.

Top baby names of 1965

Girls

  1. 1. Lisa 60,271 babies, 3.4% of girls
  2. 2. Mary 34,270 babies, 1.9% of girls
  3. 3. Karen 32,869 babies, 1.9% of girls
  4. 4. Kimberly 28,836 babies, 1.6% of girls
  5. 5. Susan 26,321 babies, 1.5% of girls

Boys

  1. 1. Michael 80,992 babies, 4.4% of boys
  2. 2. John 71,493 babies, 3.8% of boys
  3. 3. David 67,825 babies, 3.6% of boys
  4. 4. James 67,666 babies, 3.6% of boys
  5. 5. Robert 63,106 babies, 3.4% 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.

1965 then vs. now

  • Unemployment rate

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    4.5% in 1965, compared with 4.2% in September 2026

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

  • Life expectancy at birth

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    70.2 years in 1965, compared with 78.7 years in 2018

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

  • People in the world

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    3.32 billion in 1965, compared with 8.22 billion in 2025

    World population at mid-year.

Prices are in dollars of the day, not adjusted for inflation. A figure is left out when its chart doesn't cover 1965.

$100 in 1965 buys about as much as $1,069.37 in September 2026. Try the inflation calculator

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