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

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

What the Data Says About the 1970s in Pennsylvania

During the 1970s (1970–1979), the Social Security Administration recorded 885,414 births across the top 50 boy and top 50 girl names in Pennsylvania. The decade's leading boy name was Michael with 42,750 births, while Jennifer was the top girl name with 34,200 births. The top 50 boys in this decade collectively accounted for 543,405 births versus 342,009 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 Pennsylvania; 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 Pennsylvania during this window reflects how regional preferences interact with broader national trends.

Decade totals are computed by summing SSA state-year records for Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania 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 42,750
2 John 25,356
3 David 25,294
4 Robert 23,768
5 Christopher 23,312
6 James 23,175
7 Jason 23,172
8 Brian 21,750
9 Matthew 17,917
10 William 17,526
11 Joseph 17,488
12 Daniel 13,779
13 Thomas 13,228
14 Jeffrey 12,318
15 Scott 12,109
16 Richard 12,099
17 Mark 12,056
18 Eric 11,965
19 Kevin 11,563
20 Timothy 10,244
21 Steven 9,372
22 Anthony 8,427
23 Charles 8,299
24 Shawn 8,229
25 Andrew 8,165
26 Stephen 7,922
27 Paul 7,109
28 Ryan 6,793
29 Gregory 6,747
30 Edward 6,301
31 Ronald 5,730
32 Kenneth 5,728
33 Todd 5,682
34 Joshua 5,595
35 Chad 5,505
36 Jonathan 5,382
37 Sean 5,330
38 Jeremy 5,155
39 Keith 5,131
40 Donald 4,906
41 Patrick 4,895
42 Adam 4,587
43 George 4,380
44 Douglas 4,367
45 Justin 4,271
46 Aaron 4,075
47 Benjamin 3,835
48 Craig 3,596
49 Gary 3,521
50 Bryan 3,501

Girl Top 50 Girl Names

Rank Name Births
1 Jennifer 34,200
2 Amy 16,131
3 Melissa 15,044
4 Heather 13,677
5 Lisa 13,277
6 Michelle 13,237
7 Kimberly 11,656
8 Nicole 10,735
9 Kelly 9,910
10 Christine 8,361
11 Angela 7,685
12 Stephanie 7,646
13 Rebecca 7,519
14 Jessica 7,486
15 Christina 6,368
16 Mary 6,350
17 Elizabeth 6,307
18 Karen 6,253
19 Lori 6,206
20 Susan 6,146
21 Dawn 6,097
22 Tammy 5,589
23 Michele 5,583
24 Julie 5,358
25 Tracy 5,355
26 Shannon 5,200
27 Danielle 5,090
28 Laura 4,892
29 Tara 4,705
30 Amanda 4,699
31 Erin 4,405
32 Tina 4,338
33 Jamie 4,086
34 Patricia 4,075
35 Denise 4,067
36 Wendy 4,039
37 Jill 3,857
38 Andrea 3,843
39 Stacey 3,837
40 Sarah 3,802
41 Stacy 3,764
42 Megan 3,760
43 Dana 3,741
44 Rachel 3,674
45 Kathleen 3,633
46 Kristen 3,431
47 Beth 3,356
48 Holly 3,263
49 Carrie 3,243
50 Pamela 3,033

Nearby Rankings

Related decade and state views for Pennsylvania

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.