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

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

What the Data Says About the 1970s in Minnesota

During the 1970s (1970–1979), the Social Security Administration recorded 341,729 births across the top 50 boy and top 50 girl names in Minnesota. The decade's leading boy name was Michael with 12,300 births, while Jennifer was the top girl name with 13,071 births. The top 50 boys in this decade collectively accounted for 201,529 births versus 140,200 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 Minnesota; 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 Minnesota during this window reflects how regional preferences interact with broader national trends.

Decade totals are computed by summing SSA state-year records for Minnesota 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 Minnesota 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 12,300
2 Jason 11,690
3 Christopher 8,146
4 Matthew 7,936
5 David 7,311
6 Brian 6,962
7 Daniel 6,491
8 Chad 6,045
9 John 5,977
10 Scott 5,742
11 James 5,508
12 Ryan 5,495
13 Jeffrey 5,404
14 Eric 5,119
15 Robert 4,968
16 Mark 4,678
17 Jeremy 4,649
18 Joseph 4,369
19 Andrew 4,353
20 Timothy 4,198
21 Joshua 3,899
22 Steven 3,855
23 Thomas 3,734
24 Paul 3,456
25 Aaron 3,210
26 Kevin 3,192
27 Nathan 3,144
28 William 2,929
29 Anthony 2,889
30 Todd 2,741
31 Benjamin 2,652
32 Shawn 2,651
33 Adam 2,535
34 Richard 2,482
35 Troy 2,434
36 Justin 2,402
37 Patrick 2,271
38 Bradley 2,230
39 Nicholas 2,178
40 Peter 2,056
41 Jonathan 2,024
42 Gregory 1,976
43 Jesse 1,930
44 Charles 1,807
45 Travis 1,789
46 Brent 1,638
47 Craig 1,611
48 Shane 1,517
49 Brandon 1,483
50 Cory 1,473

Girl Top 50 Girl Names

Rank Name Births
1 Jennifer 13,071
2 Amy 7,450
3 Melissa 5,707
4 Michelle 5,430
5 Angela 5,409
6 Lisa 5,010
7 Sarah 4,793
8 Jessica 4,692
9 Heather 4,642
10 Nicole 4,021
11 Kelly 3,607
12 Julie 3,442
13 Kimberly 3,439
14 Rebecca 3,225
15 Sara 3,019
16 Stephanie 2,775
17 Shannon 2,560
18 Elizabeth 2,558
19 Laura 2,423
20 Heidi 2,401
21 Christine 2,294
22 Jill 2,282
23 Stacy 2,179
24 Andrea 2,080
25 Rachel 2,016
26 Dawn 2,008
27 Tracy 1,994
28 Mary 1,932
29 Amanda 1,852
30 Kari 1,827
31 Carrie 1,813
32 Susan 1,808
33 Christina 1,781
34 Tammy 1,741
35 Lori 1,736
36 Erin 1,700
37 Tina 1,670
38 Jodi 1,663
39 Kristin 1,592
40 Tara 1,511
41 Brenda 1,463
42 Katherine 1,426
43 Karen 1,386
44 Tanya 1,349
45 Ann 1,296
46 Wendy 1,275
47 Emily 1,257
48 Holly 1,252
49 Jamie 1,194
50 Molly 1,149

Nearby Rankings

Related decade and state views for Minnesota

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.