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

#1,105
Gavin Gavin is a boy's name from the Arthurian Gawain, whose meaning has never been established.
2,670 in the 1970s
#1,106
Jerri
2,665 in the 1970s
#1,107
Fabian Fabian means bean grower, and the general who carried it gave English a word for winning by refusing to fight — Fabian tactics, and the Fabian Society that named itself after his patience.
2,665 in the 1970s
#1,108
Reynaldo
2,663 in the 1970s
#1,109
Latonia
2,662 in the 1970s
#1,110
Blaine
2,660 in the 1970s
#1,111
Malissa
2,657 in the 1970s
#1,112
Erich
2,650 in the 1970s
#1,113
Sasha Sasha is a unisex name of Greek origin meaning "defender of men," the Russian familiar form of Alexander.
2,639 in the 1970s
#1,114
Tomas Tomas is a boy's name of Aramaic origin meaning "twin," a form of Thomas used across Ireland, Scandinavia and the Hispanic world.
2,620 in the 1970s
#1,115
Luther Luther means army of the people, and its weight comes from a surname rather than a saint — Martin Luther's family name became a given name across the Protestant world, and then across Black America.
2,615 in the 1970s
#1,116
Jerald
2,601 in the 1970s
#1,117
Carolina Carolina means free man, and two American states carry it — both Carolinas are named for Charles I in Latin, so a Germanic word for a peasant ended up on the map through a king.
2,600 in the 1970s
#1,118
Dave Dave ranks 2,217th in England and Wales and 2,469th in the United States, so the short form outranks its American peak market in a country that never recorded more than fifteen in a year.
2,589 in the 1970s
#1,119
Athena Athena is a girl's name from the Greek goddess of wisdom, warfare and craft.
2,588 in the 1970s
#1,120
Bernice Bernice is a girl's name meaning bringer of victory, and it is the same name as Veronica — both descend from the Greek Berenike by different routes.
2,587 in the 1970s
#1,121
Hilda Hilda means battle, and it is the surviving fragment of longer Germanic names — Hildegard, Brunhild and Matilda all contain it, and the element outlived most of the compounds it belonged to.
2,587 in the 1970s
#1,122
Sonny Sonny is a boy's name of English origin meaning exactly what it looks like — son.
2,586 in the 1970s
#1,123
Shad
2,582 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
#1,125
Stella Stella is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "star."
2,568 in the 1970s
#1,126
Aron
2,567 in the 1970s
#1,127
Mara Mara is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "bitter," and it is the name Naomi asks to be called after losing her family.
2,565 in the 1970s
#1,128
Corrie
2,565 in the 1970s
#1,129
Tosha
2,563 in the 1970s
#1,130
Elsa Elsa is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my oath," a German short form of Elisabeth.
2,561 in the 1970s
#1,131
Jamison
2,557 in the 1970s
#1,132
Tory
2,554 in the 1970s
#1,133
Danette
2,549 in the 1970s
#1,134
Reuben Reuben is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "behold, a son."
2,548 in the 1970s
#1,135
Edmund Edmund was England's patron saint before George — Edmund the Martyr, king of East Anglia, was killed by a Viking army in 869 and held that position for some three hundred years before a crusader saint displaced him.
2,546 in the 1970s
#1,136
Mayra
2,542 in the 1970s
#1,137
Jarrett
2,541 in the 1970s
#1,138
Clark Clark means a clergyman, and the job drifted — a clericus was in holy orders, but since the clergy were the ones who could write, the word slid across to mean anyone who kept records, which is what a clerk still is.
2,534 in the 1970s
#1,139
Marian Marian is a girl's name that either joins Mary and Ann or diminutives Mary alone — the sources disagree.
2,525 in the 1970s
#1,140
Ali Ali is a name of Arabic origin meaning "exalted" or "high."
2,519 in the 1970s
#1,141
Adrianne
2,517 in the 1970s
#1,142
Demond
2,513 in the 1970s
#1,143
Geneva Geneva is not named after the Swiss city — it is a form of Genevieve, whose own meaning is unsettled, and the city's name comes from a Celtic word for a bend or estuary entirely separately.
2,510 in the 1970s
#1,144
Cortney
2,499 in the 1970s
#1,145
Robby
2,499 in the 1970s
#1,146
Colette Colette is a girl's name meaning victory of the people, a French diminutive of Nicole.
2,494 in the 1970s
#1,147
Anitra
2,489 in the 1970s
#1,148
Lucia Lucia is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "light," the feminine of Lucius from lux.
2,488 in the 1970s
#1,149
Letitia
2,482 in the 1970s
#1,150
Jammie
2,480 in the 1970s
#1,151
Windy
2,480 in the 1970s
#1,152
Katy
2,473 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.