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Most popular baby names of the 1970s

In the 1970s, the most popular name for girls born in the U.S. was Jennifer, given to 581,729 girls, about 1 in 27 girls born that decade. For boys it was Michael, given to 707,327, about 1 in 23 boys.

Together, the top 20 girls’ names went to 25% of girls born in the 1970s, and the top 20 boys’ names to 38% of boys.

Top girls’ names

Top girls’ names of the 1970s
RankNameBabiesShare
#1Jennifer581,7291 in 27
#2Amy268,9941 in 57
#3Melissa253,2671 in 61
#4Michelle249,1301 in 62
#5Kimberly229,0971 in 67
#6Lisa228,6901 in 68
#7Angela225,2621 in 69
#8Heather203,9021 in 76
#9Stephanie160,4681 in 96
#10Nicole144,6671 in 110
#11Jessica143,4921 in 110
#12Elizabeth142,8451 in 110
#13Rebecca137,2851 in 110
#14Kelly133,5451 in 120
#15Mary126,2541 in 120
#16Christina125,7471 in 120
#17Amanda123,9201 in 120
#18Julie121,9191 in 130
#19Sarah118,8231 in 130
#20Laura118,2041 in 130

Top boys’ names

Top boys’ names of the 1970s
RankNameBabiesShare
#1Michael707,3271 in 23
#2Christopher475,4231 in 35
#3Jason462,7091 in 36
#4David445,7041 in 37
#5James444,7131 in 37
#6John402,6121 in 41
#7Robert397,2251 in 42
#8Brian322,6601 in 51
#9William283,4011 in 58
#10Matthew277,7271 in 59
#11Joseph244,8251 in 67
#12Daniel244,4541 in 68
#13Kevin212,2311 in 78
#14Eric211,4811 in 78
#15Jeffrey202,8501 in 81
#16Richard202,8041 in 81
#17Scott194,5201 in 85
#18Mark194,2601 in 85
#19Steven188,0781 in 88
#20Thomas186,7391 in 88

What changed

12 of the decade’s top 20 girls’ names were not in the top 20 of the 1960s: Amy, Melissa, Angela, Heather, Stephanie, Nicole, Jessica, Rebecca, Kelly, Christina, Amanda and Sarah. 3 of the decade’s top 20 boys’ names were not in the top 20 of the 1960s: Jason, Matthew and Eric.

Each table ranks names by how many babies of that sex got the name across the decade’s years in Social Security’s data, with the share of all babies of that sex it went to. A name links to its own page when it has one, with its births and rank in every year since 1880.

Source: the U.S. Social Security Administration’s national baby name data, from Social Security card applications for babies born in the U.S. A name is left out of a year when fewer than 5 babies of one sex got it, and counts before about 1937 are incomplete, because many people born then never applied for a card. See how Baby Boom builds its data. Figures may contain errors.