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

#1,195
Leland Leland means fallow land — ground deliberately left unplowed for a season.
2,295 in the 1970s
#1,200
Hugo Hugo is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "mind" or "spirit."
2,271 in the 1970s
#1,202
Antwan
2,265 in the 1970s
#1,206
Willard Willard means bold desire, and both halves are Germanic words about force of will — it is a surname from a personal name, and its American use is almost entirely nineteenth-century onward.
2,262 in the 1970s
#1,214
Vance
2,253 in the 1970s
#1,215
Ken
2,253 in the 1970s
#1,217
Miles Miles is a boy's name of disputed origin, usually connected to the Latin miles, meaning soldier.
2,246 in the 1970s
#1,219
Jeffry
2,238 in the 1970s
#1,220
Will Will means will-helmet, and the compound is stranger than it looks — the Germanic joins desire to a piece of armor, so the name reads as protection by determination.
2,237 in the 1970s
#1,225
Rodrick
2,216 in the 1970s
#1,226
Willis Willis means son of Will, and the Will behind it is William — a name so common in medieval England that its diminutives generated a whole family of surnames, of which this is one.
2,213 in the 1970s
#1,233
Daren
2,198 in the 1970s
#1,234
Rudolph Rudolph means famous wolf, and the reindeer was invented to sell things — a Montgomery Ward copywriter wrote him for a giveaway booklet in 1939, which makes him a corporate creation rather than a folk one.
2,197 in the 1970s
#1,237
Hans
2,193 in the 1970s
#1,238
Shon
2,189 in the 1970s
#1,240
Sterling Sterling is a unit of money that became a name, and the coin was probably named for a bird — the little star on early Norman pennies gives one account, and a starling stamped on them gives the other.
2,183 in the 1970s
#1,248
Emmanuel Emmanuel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is with us."
2,170 in the 1970s
#1,251
Jefferson
2,165 in the 1970s
#1,253
Dane
2,161 in the 1970s
#1,254
Roosevelt
2,161 in the 1970s
#1,258
Amos
2,155 in the 1970s
#1,259
Joaquin Joaquin is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "established by God".
2,150 in the 1970s
#1,263
Elmer Elmer means noble and famous, and its American popularity is traceable to two brothers — the Ebenezer and Jonathan Elmer who signed early revolutionary documents, after whom patriotic families went on to name sons.
2,142 in the 1970s
#1,264
Grady Grady means noble, and it comes from a byname rather than a rank — the Irish grádha describes someone held in esteem, which is a reputation earned rather than a title inherited.
2,142 in the 1970s
#1,274
Jeromy
2,109 in the 1970s
#1,276
Tobias Tobias is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is good."
2,102 in the 1970s
#1,278
Anton
2,097 in the 1970s
#1,284
Santiago Santiago is a boy's name of Spanish origin meaning "Saint James."
2,094 in the 1970s
#1,287
Rico
2,085 in the 1970s
#1,290
Jarvis
2,073 in the 1970s
#1,291
Collin Collin doubles the L of Colin, and the name underneath has two unrelated sources — a French pet form of Nicolas, and the Scottish Gaelic Cailean, which share nothing but a spelling.
2,062 in the 1970s
#1,293
Freddy Freddy is far stronger in England than in America — 328th in England and Wales on 135 births against 1422nd in the United States on 127, despite the two countries being nowhere near comparable in size.
2,054 in the 1970s
#1,294
Monty
2,051 in the 1970s
#1,295
Michel Michel is a boy's name, the French form of Michael, from a Hebrew question meaning who is like God.
2,042 in the 1970s
#1,296
Brant
2,039 in the 1970s
#1,301
Denny
2,021 in the 1970s
#1,304
Carlo
2,015 in the 1970s
#1,307
Nolan Nolan is a boy's name of Irish origin, anglicized from Ó Nualláin.
2,006 in the 1970s
#1,312
Bob Bob comes from Robert, and the B is not a corruption but a system — medieval English made pet names by rhyming, which is why Rob gave Bob, Will gave Bill and Rick gave Dick.
1,988 in the 1970s
#1,313
Quinton
1,986 in the 1970s
#1,318
Aric
1,970 in the 1970s
#1,321
Emilio Emilio is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "rival" or "eager."
1,967 in the 1970s
#1,325
Jed
1,950 in the 1970s
#1,326
Elliot Elliot is a name of Hebrew origin meaning "the Lord is my God."
1,944 in the 1970s
#1,328
Conrad Conrad set its American peak in the most recent year we hold, 2025, on 770 births — a name our records carry from 1880 reaching its high point a hundred and forty-five years later.
1,943 in the 1970s
#1,332
Marlin
1,941 in the 1970s
#1,333
Landon Landon is a boy's name of English origin meaning "long hill," from the Old English lang, long, and dun, a hill or down.
1,938 in the 1970s
#1,334
Delbert Delbert is recorded in one country and nowhere else — every one of its 47,056 births is American, with no births in any other market in any year we hold, which is rare even among American coinages.
1,935 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.