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

#712
Blake Blake is a name of Old English origin with two opposite meanings.
5,670 in the 1970s
#713
Devon Devon is the English county, named for the Dumnonii — a Celtic people whose own name may mean the deep ones, possibly referring to mining.
5,647 in the 1970s
#724
Patrice Patrice is masculine in French and feminine in English — the same spelling, opposite sexes on either side of the Channel.
5,525 in the 1970s
#729
Perry Perry means at the pear tree, from an English place name — and it is reviving, at 1,373rd in the United States and 1,681st in England and Wales.
5,491 in the 1970s
#751
Marion Marion is a French diminutive of Mary that has crossed sexes twice over — it is 81 percent female on record, yet its most famous bearer was John Wayne, born Marion Robert Morrison.
5,226 in the 1970s
#769
Loren Loren means from Laurentum, a town rather than a plant — the laurel reading came second, and the town itself was probably named for its laurels, so the connection is real but runs the long way round.
4,961 in the 1970s
#776
Morgan Morgan is a Welsh name meaning sea-born, and it charts in all seven markets within a range of just over three hundred places — one of the most evenly distributed names on this site.
4,898 in the 1970s
#808
Quincy Quincy is a unisex name of Norman French origin meaning "estate of Quintus".
4,657 in the 1970s
#820
Kendall Kendall means the valley of the River Kent, and Scotland ranks it 309th — above the United States at 329th, which is unusual for a name whose modern use is almost entirely American.
4,469 in the 1970s
#821
Kasey Kasey means vigilant, and it is one of the more evenly divided names on this site — 73 percent of recorded births are female, against an Irish surname that was of course carried by both.
4,468 in the 1970s
#822
Cari
4,451 in the 1970s
#833
Lashawn
4,337 in the 1970s
#834
Jamey
4,298 in the 1970s
#835
Dionne
4,297 in the 1970s
#837
Joni
4,282 in the 1970s
#840
Lamar
4,260 in the 1970s
#843
Dallas Dallas is the only rising name in this group — it peaked in 2015 and is still climbing, at 238th in the United States.
4,234 in the 1970s
#845
Drew Drew shortens Andrew, meaning manly, and there is a second unrelated Drew from a Germanic word for a ghost or phantom.
4,219 in the 1970s
#853
Sidney Sidney is a name of Old English origin meaning "wide meadow."
4,144 in the 1970s
#878
Sammy Sammy means God has heard, or possibly name of God — the Hebrew admits both readings, and the Bible's own explanation of Samuel uses a pun on asking that fits neither.
3,977 in the 1970s
#904
Scottie Scottie is a name meaning "a Scot," a pet form of Scott.
3,787 in the 1970s
#939
Jayme
3,583 in the 1970s
#945
Mickey
3,528 in the 1970s
#961
Dusty
3,399 in the 1970s
#974
Elisha
3,343 in the 1970s
#980
Ira Ira means watchful, and it is 12 percent female on record despite being a man's name in the Hebrew Bible — one of David's priests carries it in Samuel.
3,298 in the 1970s
#990
Marlo
3,201 in the 1970s
#1,001
Dominique Dominique is a French name meaning of the Lord, given to children born on a Sunday.
3,128 in the 1970s
#1,014
Teddy Teddy is a boy's name that shortens either Edward, meaning "wealthy guardian," or Theodore, meaning "gift of God."
3,067 in the 1970s
#1,024
Rory Rory is a name of Irish and Scottish Gaelic origin meaning "red king."
3,010 in the 1970s
#1,047
Tommie Tommie means twin, and it is one of the most evenly split names on this site — 33 percent of recorded births are female, because it serves as a short form of both Thomas and Thomasina.
2,931 in the 1970s
#1,050
Shanon
2,918 in the 1970s
#1,063
Taylor Taylor is an occupational surname meaning one who cuts cloth, now used mostly for girls at 72 percent female.
2,864 in the 1970s
#1,067
Kenyatta
2,846 in the 1970s
#1,073
Kory
2,826 in the 1970s
#1,074
Jess
2,813 in the 1970s
#1,076
Ami
2,792 in the 1970s
#1,079
Brook
2,787 in the 1970s
#1,080
Bennie Bennie means son of the right hand, and Jacob renamed the child to get there — his dying mother called him son of my sorrow, and his father would not let the name stand.
2,780 in the 1970s
#1,101
Dara Dara is a unisex name that arrives from at least three unconnected languages — Irish, Hebrew and Persian — and the reading depends entirely on which one a family has in mind.
2,681 in the 1970s
#1,124
Kay Kay serves two unrelated sources — the initial of Katherine, and Sir Kay of Arthurian legend, who is Arthur's foster brother and one of the oldest figures in the whole cycle.
2,581 in the 1970s
#1,132
Tory
2,554 in the 1970s
#1,144
Cortney
2,499 in the 1970s
#1,150
Jammie
2,480 in the 1970s
#1,161
Shayne
2,437 in the 1970s
#1,165
Elliott Elliott is a name of Hebrew origin meaning "the Lord is my God."
2,420 in the 1970s
#1,190
Reggie Reggie is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "ruler's counsel."
2,317 in the 1970s
#1,196
Avery Avery is a name of English origin meaning "elf counsel," derived from the Norman French form of the Germanic name Alberich.
2,291 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.