1970s Baby Names

7,987 names were given to children in the United States between 1970 and 1979, ranked below by how many.

A name's place is its total across those ten years. Names that appear in only some of the decade say so, because a name recorded once is a different fact from one recorded every year.

All Girls Boys Unisex

Rankings for

#1
Michael Michael is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "who is like God?" — a rhetorical question expecting the answer that no one is.
712,402 in the 1970s
#3
Christopher Christopher is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "bearer of Christ," from Christos and pherein, to carry.
478,191 in the 1970s
#4
Jason Jason is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "healer."
465,183 in the 1970s
#5
David David is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "beloved," from Dawid.
448,198 in the 1970s
#6
James James is a boy's name of Hebrew origin, an English form of Jacob by way of Late Latin Iacomus.
447,543 in the 1970s
#7
John John is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "Yahweh is gracious," from Yochanan.
405,005 in the 1970s
#8
Robert Robert is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "bright fame," from hrod, fame, and beraht, bright.
399,853 in the 1970s
#9
Brian Brian is a boy's name of Irish origin whose meaning is unsettled — noble and high are both proposed, and neither is secure.
324,243 in the 1970s
#10
William William is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "resolute protection," from wil, meaning will or desire, and helm, meaning helmet.
285,259 in the 1970s
#11
Matthew Matthew is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "gift of Yahweh," from Mattityahu.
278,959 in the 1970s
#15
Joseph Joseph is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add," from Yosef.
246,336 in the 1970s
#16
Daniel Daniel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my judge," from Daniyyel.
246,007 in the 1970s
#20
Kevin Kevin is a boy's name of Irish origin meaning "gentle birth," and its saint founded Glendalough and by tradition lived to 120.
213,465 in the 1970s
#21
Eric Eric is a boy's name of Old Norse origin meaning "eternal ruler" or "sole ruler."
212,825 in the 1970s
#23
Richard Richard is a boy's name from Germanic roots meaning strong or brave ruler.
204,081 in the 1970s
#24
Jeffrey Jeffrey is a boy's name from Germanic roots whose first element is genuinely disputed, though the second means peace.
203,818 in the 1970s
#25
Scott Scott is a boy's name meaning a Scot, from the surname given to people from Scotland.
195,404 in the 1970s
#26
Mark Mark is a boy's name of Latin origin, most likely meaning "of Mars," borne by the evangelist who wrote the earliest gospel.
195,227 in the 1970s
#27
Steven Steven is a boy's name from the Greek for crown or garland, and the phonetic respelling of Stephen.
189,169 in the 1970s
#28
Thomas Thomas is a boy's name of Aramaic origin meaning "twin," from te'oma.
187,856 in the 1970s
#29
Timothy Timothy is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "honoring God."
182,362 in the 1970s
#30
Anthony Anthony is a boy's name from the Roman family name Antonius, whose meaning is genuinely unknown — it is probably Etruscan rather than Latin.
176,284 in the 1970s
#31
Charles Charles is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "free man," from karl.
164,227 in the 1970s
#37
Ryan Ryan is a boy's name of Irish origin, anglicized from Ó Riain.
141,771 in the 1970s
#38
Joshua Joshua is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "Yahweh is salvation," from Yehoshua.
141,119 in the 1970s
#39
Jeremy Jeremy is a boy's name, the medieval English form of Jeremiah, from a Hebrew name generally read as God will exalt.
140,156 in the 1970s
#42
Paul Paul is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "small" or "humble," borne by the apostle whose letters shaped Christian doctrine.
137,205 in the 1970s
#43
Andrew Andrew is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "manly" or "brave," from andreios, from aner, a man.
133,592 in the 1970s
#50
Shawn Shawn is a boy's name, the phonetic American respelling of the Irish Seán, which is itself the Irish form of John.
117,152 in the 1970s
#51
Gregory Gregory is a boy's name from the Greek for watchful or alert.
116,235 in the 1970s
#52
Chad Chad is a boy's name from a seventh-century English saint, and it has since become an American internet stereotype and, separately, the name of a country and a disputed ballot.
114,098 in the 1970s
#53
Kenneth Kenneth is a boy's name anglicizing two separate Gaelic names, one meaning born of fire and one meaning handsome.
112,247 in the 1970s
#55
Jonathan Jonathan is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "Yahweh has given," from Yehonatan.
108,561 in the 1970s
#56
Stephen Stephen is a boy's name from the Greek for crown or garland, borne by the first Christian martyr.
108,456 in the 1970s
#59
Aaron Aaron is a boy's name of Hebrew origin whose meaning is not established.
102,569 in the 1970s
#63
Adam Adam is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "earth" or "ground," from adamah.
92,215 in the 1970s
#64
Patrick Patrick is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "nobleman."
91,798 in the 1970s
#67
Justin Justin is a boy's name from the Latin for just or righteous.
87,132 in the 1970s
#69
Sean Sean is a boy's name of Irish origin meaning "God is gracious," the Irish form of John by way of Norman French.
84,407 in the 1970s
#70
Edward Edward is a boy's name of Old English origin meaning "wealthy guardian."
84,021 in the 1970s
#71
Todd Todd is a boy's name from a northern English dialect word for a fox, given as a nickname to someone crafty or red-haired.
83,705 in the 1970s
#72
Donald Donald is a boy's name from the Scottish Gaelic Dòmhnall, meaning world ruler.
83,017 in the 1970s
#73
Ronald Ronald is a boy's name from the Old Norse Rögnvaldr, meaning ruler's counsel, brought to Scotland by Norse settlement.
82,328 in the 1970s
#74
Benjamin Benjamin is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "son of the right hand," from Binyamin.
81,782 in the 1970s
#81
Keith Keith is a boy's name from a Scottish place name, probably from a Brittonic word for a wood.
77,159 in the 1970s
#85
Bryan Bryan is a boy's name of Irish origin whose meaning is unsettled — noble and high are both proposed.
71,748 in the 1970s
#87
Gary Gary is a boy's name that reached the charts by an unusually traceable route: a surname became a steel town in Indiana, the town's name was given to an actor, and the actor made it a first name.
68,747 in the 1970s
#88
Jose Jose is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add," the Spanish and Portuguese form of Joseph.
67,114 in the 1970s

What made a 1970s name

Nothing about the sound of it. A name is on this page because children in the United States were registered with it between 1970 and 1979, and its position is simply how many. Every list of "1970s names" you will find elsewhere is somebody's sense of the period; this one is the register.

Why Some Names Only Cover Part of the Decade

A name that appears in three of the ten years either arrived partway through or faded out — and either is more interesting than the total on its own. The statistics offices do not publish names given to very few children in a year, so a gap can also mean the count dropped below the threshold rather than to nothing.

Where to Go Next

Open any name to see its full curve — most of these have a hundred and forty years of it. Or compare the ends of the same measurement: the most popular names now and the rarest.