Top Baby Names of 1970

Most popular names for boys and girls in 1970.

What the Data Says About 1970

The Social Security Administration's national 1970 file shows 2,317,508 births concentrated in the top 100 boy and top 100 girl names, the segment of U.S. baby-name data released to the public for that year. The #1 boy name of 1970 was Michael, with 85,266 births registered nationally. The #1 girl name of 1970 was Jennifer, with 46,150 births nationally. The top 100 boys captured 1,330,483 births compared with 987,025 for the top 100 girls, consistent with the historical SSA pattern in which a smaller pool of boy names dominates a larger share of annual births while girl names are more evenly distributed.

1970 sits within a specific era of U.S. naming trends. Late-20th-century years like 1970 reflect accelerating naming diversification, with rising popularity of names like Michael, Jennifer, and Jason and the gradual fragmentation of top-10 dominance. Michael and Jennifer leading 1970 fits this broader cultural signature.

These rankings come directly from Social Security Administration card applications and represent approximately 96% of all U.S. births in 1970. Names with fewer than five occurrences nationally in 1970 are excluded from SSA's public file to protect privacy, meaning the true number of unique names given in 1970 is significantly larger than any public top-100 list can show. Each spelling variation is counted separately, Sophia and Sofia, Aiden and Ayden, so rankings reflect only the specific spelling filed on the SS card, not combined name pools. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute naming advice.

← 1969
1970
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Top 100 Boys' Names Boy

Rank Name Births
1 Michael 85,266
2 James 61,735
3 David 61,728
4 John 58,491
5 Robert 57,177
6 Christopher 41,747
7 William 38,887
8 Brian 31,917
9 Mark 31,461
10 Richard 30,442
11 Jeffrey 30,139
12 Scott 28,565
13 Jason 27,272
14 Kevin 26,968
15 Steven 26,793
16 Joseph 26,714
17 Thomas 26,669
18 Eric 23,571
19 Daniel 23,521
20 Timothy 22,422
21 Charles 22,411
22 Anthony 21,176
23 Paul 20,196
24 Matthew 20,185
25 Kenneth 16,800
26 Gregory 16,286
27 Stephen 14,758
28 Todd 14,426
29 Ronald 13,618
30 Donald 12,397
31 Edward 12,275
32 Andrew 11,989
33 Patrick 11,730
34 Shawn 10,945
35 Gary 10,716
36 Douglas 10,409
37 Sean 10,341
38 Keith 9,615
39 Craig 9,364
40 George 8,911
41 Troy 8,448
42 Jonathan 8,194
43 Larry 8,104
44 Peter 8,056
45 Jerry 7,422
46 Dennis 7,312
47 Bradley 6,818
48 Frank 6,805
49 Raymond 6,788
50 Jeffery 6,701
51 Chad 6,628
52 Aaron 6,584
53 Bryan 6,452
54 Terry 6,186
55 Rodney 5,856
56 Jose 5,691
57 Tony 5,480
58 Russell 5,106
59 Randy 5,036
60 Marc 5,009
61 Roger 4,583
62 Samuel 4,558
63 Chris 4,460
64 Shane 4,451
65 Johnny 4,438
66 Carl 4,402
67 Gerald 4,399
68 Jon 4,371
69 Travis 4,321
70 Jeremy 4,318
71 Marcus 4,315
72 Adam 4,313
73 Phillip 4,275
74 Brent 4,269
75 Darren 4,197
76 Lance 4,160
77 Derek 4,147
78 Billy 4,121
79 Vincent 4,021
80 Wayne 4,006
81 Benjamin 3,926
82 Joel 3,839
83 Lawrence 3,824
84 Corey 3,814
85 Danny 3,768
86 Jimmy 3,660
87 Bobby 3,636
88 Curtis 3,615
89 Walter 3,584
90 Joe 3,570
91 Alan 3,553
92 Philip 3,520
93 Martin 3,500
94 Bruce 3,482
95 Juan 3,476
96 Derrick 3,446
97 Jay 3,415
98 Carlos 3,380
99 Brett 3,370
100 Randall 3,271

Top 100 Girls' Names Girl

Rank Name Births
1 Jennifer 46,150
2 Lisa 38,967
3 Kimberly 34,130
4 Michelle 34,047
5 Amy 25,212
6 Angela 24,929
7 Melissa 23,735
8 Tammy 19,587
9 Mary 19,204
10 Tracy 18,464
11 Julie 17,158
12 Karen 16,699
13 Laura 16,490
14 Christine 16,061
15 Susan 15,738
16 Dawn 15,681
17 Stephanie 15,387
18 Elizabeth 15,108
19 Heather 14,669
20 Kelly 14,607
21 Tina 13,861
22 Shannon 13,547
23 Lori 13,448
24 Patricia 13,406
25 Cynthia 12,913
26 Pamela 12,907
27 Sandra 11,246
28 Wendy 11,100
29 Rebecca 10,854
30 Nicole 10,691
31 Michele 10,090
32 Donna 9,968
33 Deborah 9,845
34 Teresa 9,612
35 Christina 9,588
36 Denise 9,343
37 Sharon 9,177
38 Linda 8,731
39 Maria 8,686
40 Brenda 8,336
41 Barbara 8,026
42 Stacy 7,771
43 Andrea 7,708
44 Cheryl 7,440
45 Kathleen 7,410
46 Rhonda 7,379
47 Debra 7,198
48 Stacey 7,154
49 Tonya 7,140
50 Nancy 7,063
51 Robin 7,004
52 Jill 6,806
53 Theresa 6,411
54 Dana 6,406
55 Tracey 6,230
56 Monica 6,188
57 Paula 6,055
58 Rachel 6,029
59 Catherine 6,004
60 Sherry 5,917
61 Gina 5,874
62 Ann 5,740
63 Kristin 5,633
64 Leslie 5,622
65 Sarah 5,614
66 Jacqueline 5,576
67 Katherine 5,443
68 Renee 5,373
69 Tara 5,329
70 Diane 5,188
71 Carol 5,064
72 Cindy 5,049
73 Carrie 4,978
74 Holly 4,940
75 Sheila 4,937
76 Tanya 4,862
77 Kathy 4,797
78 Kim 4,729
79 Tamara 4,721
80 Margaret 4,704
81 Heidi 4,642
82 April 4,603
83 Kristen 4,600
84 Carolyn 4,518
85 Victoria 4,460
86 Regina 4,433
87 Suzanne 4,425
88 Laurie 4,392
89 Diana 4,373
90 Deanna 4,331
91 Melanie 4,330
92 Beth 4,247
93 Melinda 4,225
94 Carla 4,214
95 Jodi 4,186
96 Janet 4,158
97 Valerie 4,130
98 Jessica 4,021
99 Tiffany 3,999
100 Traci 3,854
← 1969
1971 →

Nearby Year & Decade Rankings

Compare 1970 with adjacent years and the surrounding decade

1969 Top Names
National top 100
1971 Top Names
National top 100
1970s Decade
Decade-level rollup
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Compare 1970 leaders: Michael vs Jennifer → or pick any two names →

Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications, National Data (ssa.gov/oact/babynames).

Source: SSA Baby Names Methodology, names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are excluded to protect privacy.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from the U.S. Social Security Administration. See our methodology for details.