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

#145
Misty Misty is a word name with no older root — it is the English weather word used directly, appearing in American records only from the 1940s and peaking within a single generation.
42,512 in the 1970s
#146
Barbara Barbara is a girl's name from the Greek for foreign or strange, the feminine of the word that gives us barbarian.
42,399 in the 1970s
#147
Heidi Heidi is a girl's name of Germanic origin meaning "noble one."
42,385 in the 1970s
#148
Nancy Nancy is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "grace."
42,061 in the 1970s
#149
Brandy Brandy is named for the drink, and the drink means burned wine — the Dutch brandewijn described wine heated to distil it, so the name records a manufacturing process rather than a quality.
40,853 in the 1970s
#150
Cheryl Cheryl is a girl's name coined in twentieth-century America, probably by blending Cherie with Beryl.
40,532 in the 1970s
#151
Theresa Theresa is a girl's name of uncertain meaning, the German and English spelling of Teresa.
40,250 in the 1970s
#152
Phillip Phillip is a boy's name meaning lover of horses, the doubled-l spelling of Philip.
40,123 in the 1970s
#153
Marcus Marcus is a boy's name of Latin origin most likely meaning "of Mars," and it was one of only about eighteen first names Roman men used.
39,840 in the 1970s
#154
Alicia Alicia is a girl's name of Germanic origin meaning "noble," a Latinate form of Alice.
39,433 in the 1970s
#155
Veronica Veronica is a girl's name from a Latin phrase meaning true image, and the saint behind it was invented to explain a relic — the cloth came first, and the woman was named after it.
39,036 in the 1970s
#156
Derek Derek is a boy's name from the Germanic Theodoric, meaning ruler of the people — and it is the same name as Terry and Thierry, three forms of one original that no longer resemble each other.
38,512 in the 1970s
#157
Gina Gina is not one name — it is the ending of several different ones, and which name it shortens changes the meaning entirely.
38,269 in the 1970s
#158
Jacqueline Jacqueline is a girl's name, the French feminine of Jacques, and it inherits the meaning supplanter from Jacob.
38,120 in the 1970s
#159
Rhonda Rhonda is a girl's name from a Welsh river valley, and the great spear reading usually given for it is wrong — the Rhondda is named for its own noisiness, not for a weapon.
38,100 in the 1970s
#160
Anna Anna is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "grace" or "favor," the Greek and Latin form of Hannah.
37,976 in the 1970s
#161
Renee Renee is a girl's name from the Latin for reborn, given at baptism to mark spiritual rebirth.
37,969 in the 1970s
#162
Rodney Rodney is a boy's name from an English place name, and its rise as a given name follows a single admiral — George Rodney, who broke the French line at the Saintes in 1782.
37,745 in the 1970s
#163
Joel Joel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin that joins two names for God, and the prophet's book supplied the line quoted at Pentecost.
37,644 in the 1970s
#164
Megan Megan is a girl's name, the Welsh pet form of Margaret, from a Greek word for pearl that reached Europe from Persian.
37,491 in the 1970s
#165
Carlos Carlos is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "free man."
37,383 in the 1970s
#166
Tamara Tamara means date palm, and the tree mattered more than the fruit — in the ancient Near East a date palm was a standing symbol of uprightness and fertility.
37,240 in the 1970s
#167
Randy Randy is a boy's name, the short form of Randall or Randolph, meaning shield-wolf.
37,034 in the 1970s
#168
Melinda Melinda is an invented name rather than an inherited one — an eighteenth-century literary coinage joining the Greek word for honey to the ending of Belinda and Lucinda.
36,577 in the 1970s
#169
Kathryn Kathryn is a girl's name, the y-spelling of Katherine, and it inherits that name's genuinely unknown meaning.
36,562 in the 1970s
#170
Jacob Jacob is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "supplanter" or "holder of the heel," from Ya'aqov.
36,557 in the 1970s
#171
Tony Tony is a boy's name from the Roman family name Antonius, whose meaning has never been established.
36,276 in the 1970s
#172
Russell Russell is a boy's name from a Norman nickname meaning little red, given to someone red-haired or ruddy.
35,695 in the 1970s
#173
Brent Brent means burned land, from ground cleared by fire — a place name recording a specific agricultural practice rather than a hill or a holy site, which are the two readings usually offered for it.
35,590 in the 1970s
#174
Debra Debra is a girl's name, the phonetic respelling of Deborah, from the Hebrew for bee.
34,713 in the 1970s
#175
Jaime Jaime is 41 percent female in our records, one of the most genuinely divided names on this site — Spanish reads it as James, and English hears it as a spelling of Jamie.
34,585 in the 1970s
#176
Allison Allison is a girl's name of Norman French origin, from Alis — the medieval form of Alice — plus a diminutive ending.
34,410 in the 1970s
#177
Sherry Sherry is a girl's name that appears to have been taken from the wine, whose own name is a corruption of the Spanish town Jerez.
34,358 in the 1970s
#178
Valerie Valerie is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "strong" or "healthy," from the verb valere, meaning to be strong or to be well.
33,963 in the 1970s
#179
Billy Billy is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "resolute protector."
33,927 in the 1970s
#180
Antonio Antonio is a boy's name of Etruscan origin whose meaning is unknown.
33,739 in the 1970s
#181
Kyle Kyle is a boy's name of Scottish Gaelic origin meaning "narrow strait," taken from a district of Ayrshire.
33,614 in the 1970s
#182
Diana Diana is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "divine" or "heavenly," the Roman goddess of the hunt and the moon.
33,506 in the 1970s
#183
Derrick Derrick means ruler of the people, and the crane is named after a man — Thomas Derrick, an Elizabethan hangman whose gallows design was distinctive enough that his name became the word for it.
33,212 in the 1970s
#184
Paula Paula is a girl's name from the Latin for small or humble, the feminine of Paul.
32,867 in the 1970s
#185
Kristina Kristina means a follower of Christ, the Scandinavian and Slavic form of Christina.
32,768 in the 1970s
#186
Johnny Johnny is a boy's name, the pet form of John, meaning God is gracious.
32,420 in the 1970s
#187
Erik Erik is a boy's name meaning ever-ruler or sole ruler, from Old Norse.
32,268 in the 1970s
#188
Ann Ann is a girl's name from the Hebrew Hannah, meaning grace or favor, and the spelling without the final e.
32,166 in the 1970s
#189
Margaret Margaret is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "pearl," from margarites.
32,067 in the 1970s
#190
Marc Marc is a boy's name from a Roman name probably meaning dedicated to Mars, the god of war, and it is the source of the month of March.
31,998 in the 1970s
#191
Carl Carl is a boy's name from the Germanic word for a free man, the same root as Charles.
31,757 in the 1970s
#192
Philip Philip is a boy's name from Greek elements meaning lover of horses.
31,541 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.