Top Baby Names in Colorado, 1970s — Most Popular Boys & Girls Names

The most popular baby names in Colorado from 1970 to 1979, ranked by total births during the decade.

What the Data Says About the 1970s in Colorado

During the 1970s (1970–1979), the Social Security Administration recorded 200,765 births across the top 50 boy and top 50 girl names in Colorado. The decade's leading boy name was Michael with 8,260 births, while Jennifer was the top girl name with 7,592 births. The top 50 boys in this decade collectively accounted for 122,180 births versus 78,585 for the top 50 girls — a common SSA pattern in which the boy-name pool is more concentrated among fewer high-frequency choices. These totals represent only names appearing five or more times per year in Colorado; rarer names fall below the SSA's privacy-disclosure threshold and are excluded.

The 1970s sits within a specific cultural window of U.S. naming history. Mid-century decades like the 1970s spanned the post-war baby boom and the beginning of naming diversification, as parents increasingly departed from purely traditional choices. Michael and Jennifer leading Colorado during this window reflects how regional preferences interact with broader national trends.

Decade totals are computed by summing SSA state-year records for Colorado across all ten years of the 1970s. Because the SSA suppresses any name with fewer than five annual occurrences in a state, the true number of unique names given in Colorado during this decade is larger than what this page lists. The dataset also treats every spelling as a separate name — for example, Kayla and Kaylah are tracked independently — so combined-spelling totals would shift the rankings somewhat. This page is provided for informational and research purposes and does not constitute naming, legal, or genealogical advice.

Boy Top 50 Boy Names

Rank Name Births
1 Michael 8,260
2 Jason 6,369
3 Christopher 5,811
4 David 5,464
5 Robert 4,596
6 John 4,525
7 James 4,474
8 Matthew 4,322
9 Brian 4,112
10 Daniel 3,366
11 Eric 2,990
12 Joshua 2,817
13 Jeffrey 2,725
14 William 2,684
15 Joseph 2,625
16 Ryan 2,606
17 Scott 2,532
18 Mark 2,504
19 Richard 2,429
20 Jeremy 2,392
21 Steven 2,255
22 Kevin 2,178
23 Timothy 2,156
24 Justin 2,075
25 Andrew 2,004
26 Anthony 2,003
27 Thomas 1,948
28 Aaron 1,947
29 Paul 1,874
30 Chad 1,743
31 Shawn 1,585
32 Charles 1,532
33 Nathan 1,496
34 Adam 1,481
35 Sean 1,430
36 Gregory 1,307
37 Travis 1,307
38 Jonathan 1,287
39 Benjamin 1,263
40 Patrick 1,223
41 Brandon 1,155
42 Kenneth 1,142
43 Stephen 1,141
44 Todd 1,135
45 Shane 1,115
46 Nicholas 1,046
47 Troy 1,009
48 Jesse 956
49 Donald 895
50 Bryan 889

Girl Top 50 Girl Names

Rank Name Births
1 Jennifer 7,592
2 Michelle 3,807
3 Amy 3,271
4 Heather 3,234
5 Melissa 2,921
6 Lisa 2,752
7 Kimberly 2,370
8 Angela 2,245
9 Stephanie 2,191
10 Jessica 2,187
11 Sarah 2,100
12 Nicole 1,996
13 Rebecca 1,943
14 Christina 1,700
15 Julie 1,669
16 Shannon 1,646
17 Elizabeth 1,629
18 Andrea 1,545
19 Laura 1,539
20 Amanda 1,525
21 Kelly 1,457
22 Christine 1,256
23 Mary 1,216
24 Erin 1,171
25 Jamie 1,163
26 Dawn 1,139
27 Rachel 1,072
28 Tammy 1,069
29 Amber 1,066
30 Tracy 983
31 Sara 965
32 Carrie 947
33 Crystal 936
34 Lori 908
35 Susan 904
36 Karen 901
37 April 892
38 Wendy 887
39 Tina 879
40 Katherine 867
41 Tara 865
42 Brenda 850
43 Tiffany 834
44 Stacy 816
45 Heidi 808
46 Tanya 794
47 Holly 791
48 Cynthia 772
49 Monica 760
50 Patricia 755

Nearby Rankings

Related decade and state views for Colorado

Compare 1970s leaders: Michael vs Jennifer → or pick any two names →

Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names — State-Level Files, 1910–2024 (ssa.gov).

Source: SSA Baby Names Methodology — names with 5 or more occurrences per state per year are included (ssa.gov/oact/babynames/limits.html).

Data sourced from official U.S. government datasets. See our methodology for details.