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

#49
Laura Laura is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "laurel," the tree whose leaves crowned Roman victors and poets.
118,658 in the 1970s
#50
Shawn Shawn is a boy's name, the phonetic American respelling of the Irish Seán, which is itself the Irish form of John.
117,152 in the 1970s
#51
Gregory Gregory is a boy's name from the Greek for watchful or alert.
116,235 in the 1970s
#52
Chad Chad is a boy's name from a seventh-century English saint, and it has since become an American internet stereotype and, separately, the name of a country and a disputed ballot.
114,098 in the 1970s
#53
Kenneth Kenneth is a boy's name anglicizing two separate Gaelic names, one meaning born of fire and one meaning handsome.
112,247 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 the births in our records are female.
108,955 in the 1970s
#55
Jonathan Jonathan is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "Yahweh has given," from Yehonatan.
108,561 in the 1970s
#56
Stephen Stephen is a boy's name from the Greek for crown or garland, borne by the first Christian martyr.
108,456 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
#58
Christine Christine is a girl's name from the Latin for a follower of Christ, the French form of Christina.
103,656 in the 1970s
#59
Aaron Aaron is a boy's name of Hebrew origin whose meaning is not established.
102,569 in the 1970s
#60
Tammy Tammy is a girl's name meaning palm tree, a pet form of Tamara.
99,287 in the 1970s
#61
Karen Karen is a girl's name, the Danish form of Katherine, and it inherits that name's genuinely unknown meaning.
95,549 in the 1970s
#62
Dawn Dawn is a girl's name taken directly from the English word for daybreak, and it is the English counterpart of Aurora rather than a translation of it.
92,799 in the 1970s
#63
Adam Adam is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "earth" or "ground," from adamah.
92,215 in the 1970s
#64
Patrick Patrick is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "nobleman."
91,798 in the 1970s
#65
Susan Susan is a girl's name from a Hebrew word for lily, taken in turn from an Egyptian word for lotus.
88,630 in the 1970s
#66
Andrea Andrea is a name meaning "manly" or "brave," from the Greek aner.
87,971 in the 1970s
#67
Justin Justin is a boy's name from the Latin for just or righteous.
87,132 in the 1970s
#68
Tina Tina is a girl's name that serves as the tail end of several unrelated names — Christina, Martina, Valentina and Bettina — so its meaning depends entirely on which one a family had in mind.
85,087 in the 1970s
#69
Sean Sean is a boy's name of Irish origin meaning "God is gracious," the Irish form of John by way of Norman French.
84,407 in the 1970s
#70
Edward Edward is a boy's name of Old English origin meaning "wealthy guardian."
84,021 in the 1970s
#71
Todd Todd is a boy's name from a northern English dialect word for a fox, given as a nickname to someone crafty or red-haired.
83,705 in the 1970s
#72
Donald Donald is a boy's name from the Scottish Gaelic Dòmhnall, meaning world ruler.
83,017 in the 1970s
#73
Ronald Ronald is a boy's name from the Old Norse Rögnvaldr, meaning ruler's counsel, brought to Scotland by Norse settlement.
82,328 in the 1970s
#74
Benjamin Benjamin is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "son of the right hand," from Binyamin.
81,782 in the 1970s
#75
Patricia Patricia is a girl's name from the Latin for noble or patrician, the feminine of Patrick.
81,549 in the 1970s
#76
Cynthia Cynthia is a girl's name that began as a title for the moon goddess — it means she of Mount Cynthus, the peak on Delos where Artemis was said to have been born.
80,529 in the 1970s
#77
Rachel Rachel is a girl's name from Hebrew meaning ewe, borne by Jacob's wife in Genesis.
78,040 in the 1970s
#78
Lori Lori is a girl's name, a short form of Laura meaning laurel.
78,038 in the 1970s
#79
April April is a girl's name taken from the month, whose Latin name probably means to open — the month when buds open.
77,186 in the 1970s
#80
Stacy Stacy comes from Eustace or Anastasia, two unrelated names, and its meanings are correspondingly different — fruitful or resurrection.
77,160 in the 1970s
#81
Keith Keith is a boy's name from a Scottish place name, probably from a Brittonic word for a wood.
77,159 in the 1970s
#82
Maria Maria is a girl's name of Hebrew origin, the Latin and Greek form of Miryam.
77,018 in the 1970s
#83
Wendy Wendy is usually credited to J.
74,481 in the 1970s
#84
Crystal Crystal is a girl's name from the Greek for ice, taken from the mineral rather than from any personal name.
74,004 in the 1970s
#85
Bryan Bryan is a boy's name of Irish origin whose meaning is unsettled — noble and high are both proposed.
71,748 in the 1970s
#86
Erin Erin is a girl's name of Irish origin meaning "Ireland."
70,769 in the 1970s
#87
Gary Gary is a boy's name that reached the charts by an unusually traceable route: a surname became a steel town in Indiana, the town's name was given to an actor, and the actor made it a first name.
68,747 in the 1970s
#88
Jose Jose is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add," the Spanish and Portuguese form of Joseph.
67,114 in the 1970s
#89
Carrie Carrie is a girl's name, a pet form of Caroline meaning free man through Charles.
67,042 in the 1970s
#90
Nathan Nathan is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he gave," from Natan.
66,212 in the 1970s
#91
Brandon Brandon is a boy's name from an English place name meaning broom-covered hill, often confused with the Irish Brendan.
65,838 in the 1970s
#92
Nicholas Nicholas is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "victory of the people," from nike, victory, and laos, the people.
65,476 in the 1970s
#93
Douglas Douglas is a boy's name from the Scottish Gaelic for dark water, originally a river and then a powerful border family.
65,471 in the 1970s
#94
Tiffany Tiffany is a medieval name meaning manifestation of God, given to girls born at Epiphany — a genuinely old name that now reads as thoroughly modern.
65,427 in the 1970s
#95
Tara Tara is a girl's name from the hill in County Meath where the High Kings were inaugurated, and its meaning is a place of assembly.
65,324 in the 1970s
#96
George George is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "farmer" or "worker of the earth," from ge, earth, and ergon, work.
65,267 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.