US baby names · the 1970s

Most popular baby names of the 1970s

These are the most given US names of the 1970s, adding up Social Security counts for each year from 1970 to 1979. Across those years SSA recorded 15,452,187 girls and 16,516,151 boys under names given to five or more babies.

Jennifer led the girls with 581,729 babies, followed by Amy, Melissa and Michelle. For boys, Michael came first with 707,327, ahead of Christopher, Jason and David.

Against the top 100 of the 1960s, 36 girls’ names and 30 boys’ names in the 1970s are newcomers (girls: Heather, Nicole, Jessica; boys: Joshua, Ryan, Jeremy). Of these names, 4 of the 100 girls’ names and 23 of the 100 boys’ names are still in the top 100 in 2025.

A decade total favours names that were steady for ten years over a single-year spike, so a list here can differ from any one year’s top 100. The sparklines show each name before and after the 1970s.

SSA names.zip · Social Security card applications · retrieved 2026-10-05

← 1960s 1980s →

Top 100 girls’ names, 1970s

Rank	Name	Girls in decade
#1	Jennifer	581,729
#2	Amy	268,994
#3	Melissa	253,267
#4	Michelle	249,130
#5	Kimberly	229,097
#6	Lisa	228,690
#7	Angela	225,262
#8	Heather	203,902
#9	Stephanie	160,468
#10	Nicole	144,667
#11	Jessica	143,492
#12	Elizabeth	142,845
#13	Rebecca	137,285
#14	Kelly	133,545
#15	Mary	126,254
#16	Christina	125,747
#17	Amanda	123,920
#18	Julie	121,919
#19	Sarah	118,823
#20	Laura	118,204
#21	Shannon	113,793
#22	Christine	103,236
#23	Tammy	98,830
#24	Tracy	95,536
#25	Karen	95,173
#26	Dawn	92,446
#27	Susan	88,308
#28	Andrea	86,424
#29	Tina	84,764
#30	Patricia	81,111
#31	Cynthia	80,196
#32	Lori	77,777
#33	Rachel	77,749
#34	April	76,946
#35	Maria	76,373
#36	Wendy	74,185
#37	Crystal	73,757
#38	Stacy	69,901
#39	Erin	67,888
#40	Jamie	67,845
#41	Carrie	66,825
#42	Tiffany	65,158
#43	Tara	65,072
#44	Sandra	64,340
#45	Monica	61,680
#46	Danielle	60,918
#47	Stacey	59,210
#48	Pamela	58,039
#49	Tonya	57,789
#50	Sara	56,958
#51	Michele	56,560
#52	Teresa	56,037
#53	Denise	55,868
#54	Jill	55,070
#55	Katherine	54,048
#56	Melanie	53,323
#57	Dana	51,358
#58	Holly	50,464
#59	Erica	49,595
#60	Brenda	48,591
#61	Deborah	47,855
#62	Tanya	47,830
#63	Sharon	47,768
#64	Donna	47,342
#65	Amber	47,063
#66	Emily	46,839
#67	Robin	45,943
#68	Linda	45,900
#69	Kathleen	44,847
#70	Leslie	44,839
#71	Christy	44,592
#72	Kristen	44,206
#73	Catherine	43,864
#74	Kristin	42,384
#75	Misty	42,375
#76	Barbara	42,237
#77	Heidi	42,219
#78	Nancy	41,850
#79	Cheryl	40,393
#80	Theresa	40,076
#81	Brandy	40,070
#82	Alicia	39,253
#83	Veronica	38,787
#84	Gina	38,120
#85	Jacqueline	37,962
#86	Rhonda	37,946
#87	Anna	37,813
#88	Renee	37,591
#89	Megan	37,355
#90	Tamara	37,076
#91	Melinda	36,438
#92	Kathryn	36,434
#93	Debra	34,605
#94	Sherry	34,204
#95	Allison	34,158
#96	Valerie	33,810
#97	Diana	33,348
#98	Paula	32,724
#99	Kristina	32,650
#100	Ann	32,030

Top 100 boys’ names, 1970s

Rank	Name	Boys in decade
#1	Michael	707,327
#2	Christopher	475,423
#3	Jason	462,709
#4	David	445,704
#5	James	444,713
#6	John	402,612
#7	Robert	397,225
#8	Brian	322,660
#9	William	283,401
#10	Matthew	277,727
#11	Joseph	244,825
#12	Daniel	244,454
#13	Kevin	212,231
#14	Eric	211,481
#15	Jeffrey	202,850
#16	Richard	202,804
#17	Scott	194,520
#18	Mark	194,260
#19	Steven	188,078
#20	Thomas	186,739
#21	Timothy	181,260
#22	Anthony	174,873
#23	Charles	163,021
#24	Joshua	140,318
#25	Ryan	139,635
#26	Jeremy	139,307
#27	Paul	136,390
#28	Andrew	132,929
#29	Gregory	115,563
#30	Chad	113,534
#31	Kenneth	111,489
#32	Jonathan	107,926
#33	Stephen	107,804
#34	Shawn	105,790
#35	Aaron	101,487
#36	Adam	91,739
#37	Patrick	91,240
#38	Justin	86,539
#39	Sean	83,819
#40	Edward	83,425
#41	Todd	83,319
#42	Donald	82,435
#43	Ronald	81,730
#44	Benjamin	81,332
#45	Keith	76,689
#46	Bryan	71,338
#47	Gary	68,261
#48	Jose	66,390
#49	Nathan	65,857
#50	Douglas	65,155
#51	Nicholas	65,068
#52	Brandon	65,047
#53	George	64,757
#54	Travis	64,103
#55	Peter	62,320
#56	Craig	58,787
#57	Bradley	58,678
#58	Larry	58,138
#59	Dennis	50,552
#60	Shane	50,279
#61	Raymond	49,332
#62	Troy	48,852
#63	Jerry	48,351
#64	Samuel	48,099
#65	Frank	46,917
#66	Jesse	44,886
#67	Jeffery	44,565
#68	Juan	43,404
#69	Terry	42,426
#70	Corey	41,000
#71	Phillip	39,845
#72	Marcus	39,464
#73	Derek	38,310
#74	Rodney	37,446
#75	Joel	37,228
#76	Carlos	36,949
#77	Randy	36,545
#78	Jacob	36,351
#79	Jamie	36,296
#80	Tony	35,676
#81	Russell	35,469
#82	Brent	35,380
#83	Antonio	33,280
#84	Billy	33,217
#85	Derrick	32,860
#86	Kyle	32,645
#87	Erik	32,094
#88	Johnny	32,024
#89	Marc	31,837
#90	Carl	31,370
#91	Philip	31,367
#92	Roger	29,714
#93	Bobby	29,077
#94	Brett	28,922
#95	Danny	28,863
#96	Curtis	28,808
#97	Jon	28,690
#98	Vincent	27,640
#99	Cory	27,509
#100	Jimmy	27,099