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

#97
Sandra Sandra is a girl's name that began as an Italian short form of Alessandra and became independent in the twentieth century.
64,670 in the 1970s
#98
Travis Travis is a boy's name from an occupational surname meaning a toll collector, one who worked at a crossing.
64,623 in the 1970s
#99
Stacey Stacey is the e-spelling of Stacy, from Eustace or Anastasia.
63,448 in the 1970s
#100
Peter Peter is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "rock."
62,649 in the 1970s
#101
Monica Monica is a girl's name whose meaning is genuinely unknown, and whose saint — the mother of Augustine — came from Roman North Africa, so the name may be Berber rather than Latin or Greek at all.
62,005 in the 1970s
#102
Danielle Danielle is a girl's name, the French feminine of Daniel, from a Hebrew name meaning God is my judge.
61,407 in the 1970s
#103
Dana Dana is a name with several unrelated sources — a Danish origin, a Hebrew feminine of Daniel, and an Irish mother goddess.
59,683 in the 1970s
#104
Craig Craig is a boy's name from the Gaelic word for a rock or crag, and one of the few names that is a plain landscape noun rather than a compound.
59,064 in the 1970s
#105
Bradley Bradley is a boy's name from an English place name meaning broad meadow.
58,971 in the 1970s
#106
Larry Larry is a boy's name, the short form of Lawrence, from a Roman name meaning of Laurentum.
58,658 in the 1970s
#107
Pamela Pamela is a girl's name invented by a poet: Sir Philip Sidney coined it for his Arcadia around 1580, apparently from Greek elements meaning all sweetness.
58,267 in the 1970s
#108
Tonya Tonya is a short form of Antonia, and its meaning is unknown — the Roman family name Antonius has no established derivation, and the flower reading widely given for it is a Renaissance invention.
58,047 in the 1970s
#109
Sara Sara is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "princess" or "noblewoman."
57,160 in the 1970s
#110
Michele Michele is a girl's name, the single-l spelling of Michelle, from a Hebrew question meaning who is like God.
57,144 in the 1970s
#111
Teresa Teresa is a girl's name whose meaning is genuinely uncertain, though harvester is the usual reading.
56,270 in the 1970s
#112
Denise Denise is a girl's name, the French feminine of Denis, and like it traces to Dionysus, the Greek god of wine.
56,111 in the 1970s
#113
Jill Jill is a girl's name, a medieval short form of Gillian, and it is half of the oldest surviving English nursery rhyme pair.
55,245 in the 1970s
#114
Katherine Katherine is a girl's name whose meaning is not settled.
54,251 in the 1970s
#115
Melanie Melanie is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "black" or "dark."
53,498 in the 1970s
#116
Leslie Leslie is a Scottish place name turned surname turned given name, and it has crossed sexes: about 71 percent of the births in our records are female, though the name began firmly male and remains so in Britain.
52,033 in the 1970s
#117
Shane Shane is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is gracious," and it exists because English speakers wrote down how Ulster pronounced Seán.
51,542 in the 1970s
#118
Dennis Dennis is a boy's name that traces back to Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and ecstatic release — one of the few widely used Christian names derived from a pagan deity.
50,912 in the 1970s
#119
Holly Holly is a girl's name of Old English origin taken from the tree, from holegn.
50,656 in the 1970s
#120
Robin Robin is a name of Germanic origin meaning "bright fame."
50,514 in the 1970s
#121
Erica Erica is a girl's name with two independent sources: the feminine of Eric, meaning eternal ruler, and the botanical Latin name of heather.
49,864 in the 1970s
#122
Raymond Raymond is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning counsel and protection.
49,755 in the 1970s
#123
Troy Troy is a boy's name with two independent sources — an Irish surname meaning foot soldier, and the ancient city.
49,299 in the 1970s
#124
Jerry Jerry is a name that serves as the short form of at least three unrelated names — Jeremiah from Hebrew, Gerald and Gerard from Germanic — so its meaning depends entirely on which one a family had in mind.
49,081 in the 1970s
#125
Brenda Brenda is a girl's name from an Old Norse word for a sword or a torch, and it appears to have been invented for a novel — Walter Scott used it in The Pirate in 1822, and no earlier use is recorded.
48,797 in the 1970s
#126
Samuel Samuel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin usually translated as "God has heard," from Shemu'el.
48,462 in the 1970s
#127
Terry Terry is a name serving as a short form of Terence and of the Germanic Theodoric, two unrelated names, and it is genuinely mixed — about 18 percent of the births in our records are female.
48,204 in the 1970s
#128
Sharon Sharon is a girl's name taken from a place rather than a person — the fertile coastal plain of Sharon in Israel, known from the rose of Sharon in the Song of Songs.
48,093 in the 1970s
#129
Deborah Deborah is a girl's name from the Hebrew for bee, borne by the only woman to lead Israel as a judge.
48,070 in the 1970s
#130
Tanya Tanya is a Russian pet form of Tatiana, whose meaning is not known — the Roman family name behind it may be Sabine rather than Latin, and the Sabine language is barely attested at all.
48,044 in the 1970s
#131
Donna Donna is a girl's name from the Italian word for a lady, a title used as a name.
47,560 in the 1970s
#132
Frank Frank is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "free man" or "Frank."
47,290 in the 1970s
#133
Amber Amber is a girl's name of Arabic origin meaning "ambergris."
47,220 in the 1970s
#134
Emily Emily is a girl's name of Latin origin, from the Roman family name Aemilius.
46,987 in the 1970s
#135
Linda Linda is a girl's name usually read as beautiful in Spanish or as a Germanic element meaning soft or tender.
46,124 in the 1970s
#136
Jesse Jesse is a name of Hebrew origin whose meaning is debated.
46,019 in the 1970s
#137
Kathleen Kathleen is a girl's name anglicizing the Irish Caitlín, a form of Catherine, and it inherits that name's genuinely unknown meaning.
45,025 in the 1970s
#138
Jeffery Jeffery is a boy's name whose first element is genuinely disputed, though the second means peace.
44,857 in the 1970s
#139
Christy Christy serves both Christine and Christopher, so it is used for both sexes — 98 percent of the births in our records are female, but the masculine use remains ordinary in Ireland.
44,840 in the 1970s
#140
Kristen Kristen is a girl's name meaning a follower of Christ, and in Denmark it is a man's name — the Danish Kristen is masculine and Kirsten the feminine.
44,803 in the 1970s
#141
Catherine Catherine is a girl's name of Greek origin whose meaning is genuinely unknown — the familiar reading of pure is a later reshaping, not the original sense.
44,023 in the 1970s
#142
Juan Juan is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is gracious."
43,911 in the 1970s
#143
Corey Corey is a boy's name from an Irish surname, generally given as dweller near a hollow.
43,331 in the 1970s
#144
Kristin Kristin is a girl's name meaning a follower of Christ, and it is the smaller of a pair — Kristen holds 222,720 recorded births to its 181,344, and both charted only ever in America.
43,042 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.