1970s Baby Names

1,976 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

#33
Kelly Kelly is a name from the Irish surname Ó Ceallaigh, borne almost entirely by men for most of its history and now 86 percent female on record.
150,866 in the 1970s
#37
Ryan Ryan is a boy's name of Irish origin, anglicized from Ó Riain.
141,771 in the 1970s
#40
Shannon Shannon is a name from Ireland's longest river, and it is 86 percent female on record.
138,442 in the 1970s
#54
Tracy Tracy is a Norman place name that became a surname, then a boys' name, then overwhelmingly a girls' name — about 81 percent of recorded births are female.
108,955 in the 1970s
#57
Jamie Jamie is a unisex name of Hebrew origin, a Scottish diminutive of James meaning "supplanter" or "holder of the heel."
104,141 in the 1970s
#99
Stacey Stacey is the e-spelling of Stacy, from Eustace or Anastasia.
63,448 in the 1970s
#110
Michele Michele is a girl's name, the single-l spelling of Michelle, from a Hebrew question meaning who is like God.
57,144 in the 1970s
#120
Robin Robin is a name of Germanic origin meaning "bright fame."
50,514 in the 1970s
#149
Brandy Brandy is named for the drink, and the drink means burned wine — the Dutch brandewijn described wine heated to distil it, so the name records a manufacturing process rather than a quality.
40,853 in the 1970s
#193
Tracey Tracey is a Norman place name, not an Irish one — it comes from Tracy in Normandy, and the warrior reading widely given for it has no basis in the French original at all.
31,408 in the 1970s
#196
Jodi Jodi serves Judith, Joseph and Jude at once, which is why the wider Jody family never settled on one sex — three unrelated Hebrew parents pulling in different directions.
30,682 in the 1970s
#210
Courtney Courtney is a name from a Norman family whose surname is usually read as short nose, though a place-name derivation competes.
28,545 in the 1970s
#214
Angel Angel is a name of Greek origin meaning "messenger," from angelos.
27,992 in the 1970s
#217
Jody Jody serves Judith, Joseph and Jude at once, which is why it is 64 percent female rather than resolving to one side — three unrelated parents pulling in different directions.
27,701 in the 1970s
#218
Casey Casey is a name of Irish origin meaning "vigilant" or "watchful."
27,633 in the 1970s
#260
Kerry Kerry is 53 percent female on record — the fourth-closest to an even split on this site, behind only Emerson, Riley and Jackie.
22,785 in the 1970s
#264
Kim Kim is a name that arrives from three unrelated directions — an English place name, Kipling's 1901 novel, and the most common Korean surname in the world.
22,515 in the 1970s
#288
Lynn Lynn is a name from a Welsh and Gaelic word for a lake or a pool below a waterfall.
19,932 in the 1970s
#299
Ronnie Ronnie is a name of Old Norse origin meaning "ruler's counsel."
19,053 in the 1970s
#302
Kari Kari descends from the same unexplained Greek root as Kaitlin in this group, but by a Scandinavian route — through Karen and Katarina rather than through Irish, and the pure gloss is equally unproven on both paths.
18,917 in the 1970s
#349
Jackie Jackie is the third most evenly divided name on this site — 48.9 percent of recorded births are female, behind only Emerson and Riley among names with more than 50,000 births.
15,223 in the 1970s
#372
Kelley Kelley is the same Irish name as Kellie, spelled differently, and the two split its births between them — this one peaked in 1968 and that one in 1969, a year apart at nearly the same size.
13,804 in the 1970s
#383
Jean Jean is a unisex name on record: the French form of John, meaning "God is gracious," and separately a Scottish feminine form of Jane.
13,255 in the 1970s
#395
Jessie Jessie is a name that arrives from two unrelated directions — the Scottish pet form of Janet, and a feminine of the Hebrew Jesse.
12,602 in the 1970s
#412
Joey Joey is a name of Hebrew origin meaning "God will increase."
12,161 in the 1970s
#443
Francis Francis is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "Frenchman" or "free man."
11,290 in the 1970s
#456
Toby Toby is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is good."
10,850 in the 1970s
#483
Lonnie Lonnie shortens Alonzo and Alphonso, meaning noble and ready — and the Germanic original reached Spain with the Visigoths, so a name that reads as American South is Gothic by descent.
10,078 in the 1970s
#484
Sandy Sandy shortens Alexander and Alexandra, meaning defender of the people — and in Scotland it is the standard familiar form of Alexander, which is why it reads as Scottish rather than merely short.
10,039 in the 1970s
#508
Jodie Jodie peaked in England, not America — 1,354 births in England and Wales in 1996 against a US high of 1,104, which makes it proportionally several times larger there than in the country usually credited with it.
9,481 in the 1970s
#525
Cameron Cameron is a name of Scottish origin meaning "crooked nose," from the Gaelic cam, crooked, and sròn, nose.
8,973 in the 1970s
#547
Carey
8,371 in the 1970s
#559
Alexis Alexis is a Greek name meaning helper or defender, and it is split by country: a boys' name in France, where it ranks 256th, and majority female in the United States.
8,058 in the 1970s
#560
Guadalupe Guadalupe is half Arabic and half Latin — wadi, a valley or river, joined to a word for a wolf.
8,057 in the 1970s
#597
Jami
7,328 in the 1970s
#609
Johnnie Johnnie means God is gracious, a pet form of John.
7,149 in the 1970s
#622
Spencer Spencer is a name of Middle English origin meaning "steward" or "dispenser of provisions."
6,956 in the 1970s
#624
Noel Noel means Christmas, and its American peak was 2014 — the most recent peak of any name in this group by a wide margin.
6,942 in the 1970s
#635
Charlie Charlie is a name of Germanic origin meaning "free man."
6,745 in the 1970s
#643
Joan Joan is a girl's name, the medieval English feminine of John meaning God is gracious, and it was once as common as Mary.
6,620 in the 1970s
#658
Marty
6,381 in the 1970s
#664
Jordan Jordan is a name from the river, whose Hebrew name Yarden means "to descend" or "flow down" — the Jordan drops sharply from its source to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on the earth's land surface.
6,281 in the 1970s
#676
Scotty
6,133 in the 1970s
#677
Robbie Robbie is a unisex name of Germanic origin meaning "bright fame," a diminutive of Robert.
6,119 in the 1970s
#679
Jo Jo is a name serving as the short form of Joanne, Josephine and Joan for women and Joseph for men.
6,094 in the 1970s
#683
Karin
6,042 in the 1970s
#691
Frankie Frankie is a name of Germanic origin meaning "free man" or "Frenchman."
5,933 in the 1970s
#710
Kris
5,690 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.