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 on record — 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 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
#518
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
#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
#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 1,229th.
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

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.