1970s Baby Names

8,079 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 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 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
#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
#90
Nathan Nathan is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he gave," from Natan.
66,212 in the 1970s

What Made a 1970s Name

Children in the United States were registered with it between 1970 and 1979. A name's position here is how many of them were.

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.