1970s Baby Names

14,967 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

#485
Evelyn Evelyn is a girl's name of English and French origin meaning "desired" or "wished for".
10,031 in the 1970s
#487
Tonia
9,973 in the 1970s
#489
Desiree Desiree means desired, and it began as a Puritan virtue name rather than a French one — Desiderius was a late Roman Christian name for a longed-for child, and French inherited it before English did.
9,907 in the 1970s
#491
Judith Judith is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "woman of Judea," borne by the heroine who beheads Holofernes in the deuterocanonical book named for her.
9,874 in the 1970s
#492
Shanna
9,863 in the 1970s
#493
Joann Joann is a girl's name meaning God is gracious, a simplified spelling of Joanna.
9,861 in the 1970s
#494
Elaine Elaine is a girl's name, the Old French form of Helen, whose meaning was never established.
9,809 in the 1970s
#495
Angelica Angelica is both a name and a plant, and the plant is named for the angel — a medieval legend has one reveal it as a cure during plague, which is why it was grown in monastery gardens.
9,781 in the 1970s
#496
Charity
9,741 in the 1970s
#498
Tami
9,719 in the 1970s
#499
Staci
9,717 in the 1970s
#500
Judy Judy is a girl's name, the pet form of Judith, from a Hebrew word meaning a woman of Judea.
9,712 in the 1970s
#501
Rebekah Rebekah is the spelling the King James Bible uses for the Old Testament, while the New Testament in the same book uses Rebecca — one translation, two spellings, and English inherited both.
9,678 in the 1970s
#502
Raquel Raquel means ewe, and the animal is the point — Rachel is a shepherd in Genesis, met at a well while watering her father's flock, so the name and the story match exactly.
9,655 in the 1970s
#503
Tammie
9,636 in the 1970s
#505
Jane Jane is a girl's name from the Hebrew for God is gracious, the English feminine of John.
9,531 in the 1970s
#510
Meghan Meghan means pearl, through Megan and Margaret, and the h is an American addition — Welsh spells it Megan, and the extra letter appeared in twentieth-century American use with no basis in the original.
9,396 in the 1970s
#512
Sally Sally is a girl's name meaning princess, a pet form of Sarah reached by medieval rhyming.
9,305 in the 1970s
#516
Jana Jana ranks 223rd in France and 1,245th in the United States, and its French peak of 485 births came in 2019 — a Slavic form of John that is currently doing better in France than in any English-speaking market.
9,179 in the 1970s
#517
Rochelle Rochelle means little rock, and it is a place rather than a person — La Rochelle on the Atlantic coast was a Huguenot stronghold, and the name reached English through the town rather than any saint.
9,154 in the 1970s
#519
Priscilla Priscilla means ancient or venerable, and it is a diminutive — so the name literally reads as little old one, which was a mark of respect rather than an insult.
9,142 in the 1970s
#523
Summer Summer is a girl's name of Old English origin taken from the season, from sumor.
9,089 in the 1970s
#524
Marcia Marcia means dedicated to Mars, and that god's name is also where the month of March comes from — the Roman year began in March, because that was when the campaigning season opened up again after the winter.
8,998 in the 1970s
#526
Alisha Alisha means noble, and it is British and Irish rather than American — England and Wales 376th, Ireland 381st and Northern Ireland 407th all rank it far above the United States at 1,229th.
8,956 in the 1970s
#527
Keisha
8,931 in the 1970s
#532
Stefanie
8,720 in the 1970s
#535
Loretta Loretta comes from an Italian shrine, not from the laurel — Loreto is the town where the Holy House of Nazareth was said to have been carried by angels.
8,650 in the 1970s
#536
Eva Eva is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "life" or "living."
8,642 in the 1970s
#538
Dena
8,535 in the 1970s
#539
Cristina Cristina shares its root with Kirsten in this same group, but arrived by a southern route — Italian and Spanish rather than Scandinavian, from the Greek word for a follower of the anointed one.
8,492 in the 1970s
#542
Naomi Naomi is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "pleasantness," from No'omi.
8,455 in the 1970s
#543
Janelle Janelle is an American elaboration rather than an inherited name — Jane with a French-looking ending attached, built in the twentieth century by the same habit that produced Danielle, Rochelle and Michelle.
8,454 in the 1970s
#544
Lindsey Lindsey is a girl's name from a district of Lincolnshire, and it originally meant an island — Lindsey was cut off by marsh and river, so the wetland reading and the island reading describe the same place.
8,442 in the 1970s
#545
Christi
8,428 in the 1970s
#546
Rachelle
8,425 in the 1970s
#548
Marisa Marisa is a blend rather than an inherited name — Italian joined Maria to Luisa, and the result reads as though it means sea, which it does not, since Maria's own meaning is unsettled.
8,350 in the 1970s
#549
Lesley Lesley is the Scottish spelling and Scotland proves it — a peak of 341 births there in 1974, far above what the country's size would predict against an American high of 981.
8,347 in the 1970s
#550
Kirsten Kirsten means a follower of the anointed one, and the anointing is literal — Christ translates the Hebrew mashiach, and both words describe someone smeared with oil at a coronation rather than a divine title.
8,336 in the 1970s
#551
Irene Irene is a girl's name from the Greek word for peace, and the name of the goddess who personified it.
8,325 in the 1970s
#552
Jeanne Jeanne is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is gracious," the French feminine of Jean.
8,217 in the 1970s
#553
Roxanne Roxanne means dawn or bright, and it is Persian rather than Greek — Alexander married Roxana in Bactria, and she and their son were murdered after his death.
8,174 in the 1970s
#554
Jenifer
8,169 in the 1970s
#555
Roberta Roberta is a girl's name meaning bright fame, the feminine of Robert.
8,152 in the 1970s
#556
Miranda Miranda was coined by Shakespeare for The Tempest around 1611, from the Latin for to be wondered at.
8,143 in the 1970s
#557
Shauna
8,070 in the 1970s
#558
Dina Dina is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "judged" or "vindicated," borne by Jacob's daughter in one of the harshest stories in Genesis.
8,068 in the 1970s
#564
Marilyn Marilyn is a girl's name usually read as a blend of Mary and Lyn.
7,992 in the 1970s
#566
Sonja Sonja means wisdom, and the great church of Constantinople carries the same word — Hagia Sophia was dedicated to Holy Wisdom as an aspect of God, not to any saint of that name.
7,977 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.