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 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 on record, one of the most 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

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.