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

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

What the Data Says About the 1970s in New Mexico

During the 1970s (1970–1979), the Social Security Administration recorded 88,277 births across the top 50 boy and top 50 girl names in New Mexico. The decade's leading boy name was Michael with 3,737 births, while Jennifer was the top girl name with 2,665 births. The top 50 boys in this decade collectively accounted for 51,915 births versus 36,362 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 New Mexico; 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 New Mexico during this window reflects how regional preferences interact with broader national trends.

Decade totals are computed by summing SSA state-year records for New Mexico 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 New Mexico 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 3,737
2 Christopher 2,694
3 David 2,617
4 Robert 2,329
5 Jason 2,214
6 James 2,153
7 John 2,028
8 Daniel 1,665
9 Joseph 1,591
10 Brian 1,362
11 Matthew 1,356
12 Richard 1,337
13 Eric 1,252
14 Anthony 1,216
15 William 1,109
16 Mark 1,080
17 Steven 991
18 Paul 963
19 Jeremy 889
20 Thomas 885
21 Joshua 858
22 Kevin 828
23 Jose 795
24 Patrick 779
25 Timothy 770
26 Aaron 763
27 Charles 760
28 Jeffrey 747
29 Andrew 717
30 Adam 630
31 Gabriel 629
32 Justin 620
33 Ryan 618
34 Carlos 614
35 Jonathan 600
36 Scott 585
37 Juan 583
38 Kenneth 582
39 Shawn 559
40 Manuel 544
41 Raymond 530
42 Edward 522
43 Stephen 517
44 Gregory 498
45 Joe 482
46 Benjamin 472
47 Sean 464
48 Johnny 464
49 Ronald 463
50 Jerry 454

Girl Top 50 Girl Names

Rank Name Births
1 Jennifer 2,665
2 Michelle 1,896
3 Melissa 1,715
4 Lisa 1,180
5 Jessica 1,156
6 Angela 1,100
7 Amy 1,053
8 Stephanie 1,020
9 Kimberly 962
10 Monica 947
11 Elizabeth 897
12 Heather 881
13 Rebecca 847
14 Christina 843
15 Maria 834
16 Amanda 831
17 Mary 744
18 Andrea 673
19 Valerie 670
20 Patricia 665
21 Shannon 648
22 Laura 625
23 Sarah 609
24 Rachel 597
25 Veronica 595
26 Cynthia 591
27 Julie 571
28 Denise 552
29 Tanya 550
30 Tammy 545
31 Nicole 543
32 Crystal 536
33 Christine 531
34 Melanie 520
35 Sandra 514
36 April 510
37 Karen 492
38 Victoria 491
39 Brenda 468
40 Anna 450
41 Kelly 439
42 Lori 411
43 Renee 396
44 Theresa 395
45 Tina 387
46 Susan 370
47 Erica 366
48 Pamela 365
49 Yvonne 359
50 Tracy 357

Nearby Rankings

Related decade and state views for New Mexico

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.