1970s Baby Names

25,022 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

#481
Warren Warren is a boy's name from a Norman place name, and it is the second-strongest revival we hold — it peaked in 1921 and now ranks 240th in the United States on 1,493 births, a century later.
10,155 in the 1970s
#482
Kimberley Kimberley is named for a woman — the English place name behind it is Cyneburg's clearing, and Cyneburg was a seventh-century Mercian princess, so the name reaches modern use through her land rather than a man's.
10,140 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
#485
Evelyn Evelyn is a girl's name of English and French origin meaning "desired" or "wished for".
10,031 in the 1970s
#486
Norman Norman means a Northman — a Viking.
10,000 in the 1970s
#487
Tonia
9,973 in the 1970s
#488
Leon Leon is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "lion."
9,969 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
#490
Glen Glen means a narrow valley, and it is one of very few Gaelic words that English borrowed wholesale rather than adapting to its own sounds.
9,884 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
#497
Rafael Rafael is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God heals."
9,720 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
#504
Pedro Pedro means stone, and the name records a nickname Jesus gave — Simon was renamed Cephas in Aramaic, which Greek translated as Petros, so the pun on rock survives through three languages.
9,587 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
#506
Byron Byron means at the cattle sheds — a working place name that became shorthand for romantic poetry, which is a longer journey than most names make.
9,531 in the 1970s
#507
Fred Fred is a boy's name, the short form of Frederick meaning peaceful ruler.
9,499 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
#509
Franklin Franklin means a freeholder — a man who owned his land but held no noble rank, a specific medieval class.
9,424 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
#511
Omar Omar is a boy's name of Arabic origin meaning "flourishing" or "long-lived."
9,372 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
#513
Fernando Fernando means bold journey, and it is Germanic rather than Spanish — the Visigoths brought it to Iberia, where it became the royal name of Castile and Aragon and then traveled to the Americas.
9,246 in the 1970s
#514
Alejandro Alejandro is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "defender of mankind."
9,215 in the 1970s
#515
Bernard Bernard is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning brave as a bear.
9,183 in the 1970s
#516
Jana Jana ranks 223rd in France and 1245th 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
#518
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
#519
Gilbert Gilbert is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning bright pledge, and it founded the only medieval religious order native to England.
9,142 in the 1970s
#520
Darin
9,141 in the 1970s
#521
Andy Andy means manly, and the Greek root is the ordinary word for a man — so Andrew is one of the few apostles carrying a Greek name rather than a Hebrew or Aramaic one.
9,133 in the 1970s
#522
Clint
9,116 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
#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
#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 1229th.
8,956 in the 1970s
#527
Keisha
8,931 in the 1970s
#528
Lucas Lucas is a boy's name of Latin origin, the Latin form of Luke.
8,859 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.