The Top Baby Names 50 Years Ago!

Baby names have changed drastically in the last 50 years….

The Social Security Administration (SSA), which started compiling baby name lists in 1997, has retroactively identified 200 of the "most popular" first names given to boys and girls in the 1970s.

The SSA combed through the millions of records and found which names were most prevalent for Gen X babies born between 1970 and 1979.

The most popular male names in the 70s:

Michael, Christopher and Jason are taking the top 3 spots. David, James and John are numbers 4,5 and 6! Robert takes seventh most popular, followed by Brian, William, and Matthew rounding out the top 10!

The Most popular names for females in the 70s:

Jennifer, Amy and Melissa were the top three names in the 70s…Michelle, Kimberly and Lisa are numbers 4, 5 and 6! Angela took the seventh spot for most popular female names. While Heather, Stephanie and Nicole round out the top 10!

According to the SSA's name records, James and William were the only male names remaining in the top 10 from the 1970s to 2022. The names ranked in fifth and sixth place, respectively.

The top five baby names for boys in 2022 were Liam, Noah, Oliver, James and Elijah. William, Henry, Lucas, Benjamin and Theodore rounded out the top 10.

The top 10 baby names for girls in 2022 were Olivia, Emma, Charlotte, Amelia, Sophia, Isabella, Ava, Mia, Evelyn and Luna.