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

#289
Krista Krista means a follower of Christ, and it is the sixth spelling of this name family to appear in this group — after Kristin, Kristen, Kristina, Kristine and Kristi.
19,878 in the 1970s
#290
Kara Kara means beloved, from the Italian and Latin for dear — and a separate Norse Kara exists as the name of a valkyrie, so the same spelling covers two entirely unrelated names.
19,833 in the 1970s
#291
Terri Terri shortens Teresa, whose meaning has never been established — harvester, summer and a Greek island are all proposed and none of them is settled.
19,821 in the 1970s
#292
Sonya Sonya means wisdom, and the Greek word behind it named a divine attribute before it named a person — Constantinople's great church was dedicated to Holy Wisdom, not to any saint called Sophia.
19,556 in the 1970s
#293
Aimee Aimee means beloved, and it is grammatically passive — the French past participle of aimer, to love, so the name says she who is loved rather than she who loves.
19,446 in the 1970s
#294
Natasha Natasha means born on Christmas day, and it is a Russian pet form rather than a full name — Natalya is the formal version, and Russians would not use Natasha on a document.
19,399 in the 1970s
#295
Nathaniel Nathaniel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "gift of God."
19,363 in the 1970s
#296
Zachary Zachary is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "the Lord has remembered."
19,161 in the 1970s
#297
Jesus Jesus is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "the Lord is salvation."
19,158 in the 1970s
#298
Cassandra Cassandra is a girl's name from Greek myth, borne by a prophet cursed to see the future and never be believed.
19,074 in the 1970s
#299
Ronnie Ronnie is a name of Old Norse origin meaning "ruler's counsel."
19,053 in the 1970s
#300
Bridget Bridget means exalted one, and it belonged to a goddess before a saint — Brigid was the Irish deity of poetry, smithcraft and healing, and the saint absorbed her feast, her fire and her attributes.
18,936 in the 1970s
#301
Carmen Carmen has two unrelated sources — the Latin word for a song, and a Spanish Marian title from Mount Carmel in Israel.
18,932 in the 1970s
#302
Kari Kari descends from the same unexplained Greek root as Kaitlin in this group, but by a Scandinavian route — through Karen and Katarina rather than through Irish, and the pure gloss is equally unproven on both paths.
18,917 in the 1970s
#303
Dale Dale is a name from the Old English word for a valley, and like Craig and Heather it is a plain landscape noun rather than a compound.
18,915 in the 1970s
#304
Anita Anita is a girl's name, the Spanish diminutive of Ana, meaning grace.
18,915 in the 1970s
#305
Jeremiah Jeremiah is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "Yahweh exalts" or "Yahweh establishes," from Yirmeyahu.
18,911 in the 1970s
#306
Jack Jack is a boy's name of English origin that began as a pet form of John, by way of the medieval nickname Jankin.
18,694 in the 1970s
#307
Nichole Nichole means victory of the people, and the compound is political — the Greek joins a word for victory to one meaning the citizen body, so it describes a public triumph rather than a personal one.
18,579 in the 1970s
#308
Christie Christie means a follower of the anointed one, and the anointing was a physical act — Christ translates the Hebrew mashiach, both describing oil poured over a king or priest at his installation.
18,283 in the 1970s
#309
Marie Marie is a girl's name of Hebrew origin, the French form of Mary, and the largest name in the birth records with more than 2.8 million births on record.
18,279 in the 1970s
#310
Connie Connie is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "steadfast" or "constant."
18,197 in the 1970s
#311
Tyrone Tyrone means Eoghan's land, an Irish county, and it reached American use almost entirely through one actor — Tyrone Power, whose grandfather took the name from the county his family came from.
18,151 in the 1970s
#312
Virginia Virginia is a girl's name from a Roman family name, and the American state was named before the name became common in America — both honoring Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen.
18,132 in the 1970s
#313
Martha Martha is a girl's name of Aramaic origin meaning "lady" or "mistress of the house."
18,036 in the 1970s
#314
Stacie Stacie means resurrection, and it is a boys' name by origin — Anastasius was masculine, and the modern name descends from it through Eustace and Anastasia alike.
17,936 in the 1970s
#315
Manuel Manuel is a boy's name meaning God is with us, the Spanish short form of Emmanuel.
17,905 in the 1970s
#316
Ricardo Ricardo is a boy's name meaning brave ruler, the Spanish and Portuguese form of Richard.
17,826 in the 1970s
#317
Harold Harold is a boy's name from Norse and Old English elements meaning army ruler, and it belongs to the last Anglo-Saxon king of England, killed at Hastings in 1066.
17,742 in the 1970s
#318
Monique Monique is a girl's name, the French form of Monica, whose meaning is unknown despite the confident answers usually given for it.
17,593 in the 1970s
#319
Katie Katie is a girl's name of Greek origin, a diminutive of Katherine whose meaning has never been settled.
17,523 in the 1970s
#320
Shelley Shelley means a clearing on a ledge, and it has nothing to do with shells — the poet's surname records a patch of high ground in Suffolk or Sussex, not anything from a beach.
17,519 in the 1970s
#321
Kristie
17,404 in the 1970s
#322
Reginald Reginald means counsel-power, and England and Wales ranks it 229th on 217 births against 1,285th in the United States — one of the sharpest British-versus-American splits in this group.
17,386 in the 1970s
#323
Barry Barry is a boy's name from an Irish surname generally traced to a word for a spear, though a Welsh island gives a competing route.
17,351 in the 1970s
#324
Ian Ian is a boy's name of Scottish origin meaning "Yahweh is gracious," the Scottish Gaelic form of John.
17,321 in the 1970s
#325
Sherri Sherri looks French and is not — it respells Cherie, meaning darling, but Cherie is not a traditional French given name at all, so the name is an English invention wearing French clothes.
17,153 in the 1970s
#326
Glenn Glenn is a boy's name from the Gaelic word for a narrow valley, and like Craig and Dale it is a plain landscape noun.
17,020 in the 1970s
#327
Ernest Ernest is a boy's name from a Germanic word meaning serious or resolute, and it is far stronger in Europe than in America — 252nd in England and Wales and 276th in France against 1,042nd in the United States.
16,909 in the 1970s
#328
Bonnie Bonnie is a girl's name of Scots origin meaning "pretty" or "fine."
16,814 in the 1970s
#329
Steve Steve is a boy's name, the short form of Steven or Stephen, meaning crown or garland.
16,781 in the 1970s
#330
Eugene Eugene is a boy's name from the Greek for well-born, and it is the source of the word eugenics — a connection worth knowing, since the name long predates and has nothing to do with that movement.
16,704 in the 1970s
#331
Seth Seth is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "appointed" or "placed," given to Adam and Eve's third son after Cain killed Abel.
16,669 in the 1970s
#332
Tommy Tommy is a boy's name of Aramaic origin meaning "twin."
16,533 in the 1970s
#333
Miguel Miguel is a boy's name meaning who is like God, the Spanish and Portuguese form of Michael.
16,487 in the 1970s
#334
Clinton Clinton means the settlement on the hill, from an English place name — and the two American presidents who carried it did so by adoption and by surname, not by descent from the place.
16,442 in the 1970s
#335
Mandy Mandy means she who must be loved, and the grammar matters — Amanda is a Latin gerundive, a form expressing obligation, so the name is closer to an instruction than a description.
16,306 in the 1970s
#336
Shawna Shawna means God is gracious, and it reaches English from Hebrew through four languages — Yochanan to Greek to Latin to Irish Seán, respelled Shawn and then given an American feminine ending.
16,247 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.