Most Popular Baby Names of 1971

In 1971, Jennifer was the most popular name for girls, given to 56,771 babies, and Michael topped the boys' list with 77,577. Jennifer held on to number one for a second year in a row, and Michael held on to number one for a 11th year in a row.

Social Security counted 1,663,823 girls and 1,768,447 boys born in 1971 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 9,645 different girls' names and 5,655 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1971

Top girls' names, 1971
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1970
1	Jennifer	56,771	same
2	Michelle	33,160	up 2
3	Lisa	32,907	down 1
4	Kimberly	30,708	down 1
5	Amy	26,237	same
6	Angela	25,901	same
7	Melissa	23,875	same
8	Tammy	17,656	same
9	Mary	16,703	same
10	Julie	15,322	up 1
11	Stephanie	15,135	up 6
12	Heather	15,017	up 7
13	Tracy	14,330	down 3
14	Dawn	14,288	up 2
15	Karen	14,214	down 3
16	Laura	13,875	down 3
17	Susan	13,782	down 2
18	Christine	13,678	down 4
19	Elizabeth	13,606	down 1
20	Tina	13,266	up 1
21	Shannon	12,647	up 1
22	Kelly	12,599	down 2
23	Rebecca	12,192	up 6
24	Cynthia	12,143	up 1
25	Lori	11,829	down 2
26	Patricia	11,470	down 2
27	Nicole	10,423	up 3
28	Pamela	10,149	down 2
29	Wendy	10,063	down 1
30	Christina	9,915	up 5
31	Sandra	9,714	down 4
32	Stacy	9,117	up 10
33	Deborah	8,675	same
34	Teresa	8,563	same
35	Andrea	8,483	up 8
36	Denise	8,219	same
37	Maria	8,141	up 2
38	Donna	8,013	down 6
39	Michele	7,955	down 8
40	Sharon	7,523	down 3
41	Stacey	7,482	up 7
42	Linda	7,376	down 4
43	Brenda	7,160	down 3
44	Dana	6,934	up 10
45	Tonya	6,897	up 4
46	Rhonda	6,649	same
47	Barbara	6,453	down 6
48	Monica	6,426	up 8
49	Tara	6,336	up 20
50	Cheryl	6,327	down 6
51	Robin	6,213	same
52	Nancy	6,212	down 2
53	Kathleen	6,154	down 8
54	Rachel	6,115	up 4
55	Carrie	5,977	up 18
56	April	5,939	up 26
57	Debra	5,928	down 10
58	Sarah	5,843	up 7
59	Jill	5,724	down 7
60	Sherry	5,562	same
61	Theresa	5,446	down 8
62	Tiffany	5,414	up 37
63	Paula	5,379	down 6
64	Jessica	5,359	up 34
65	Catherine	5,337	down 6
66	Melanie	5,135	up 25
67	Katherine	5,120	same
68	Leslie	5,111	down 4
69	Gina	4,922	down 8
70	Cindy	4,904	up 2
71	Kristin	4,861	down 8
72	Tanya	4,855	up 4
73	Renee	4,830	down 5
74	Tracey	4,789	down 19
75	Jacqueline	4,784	down 9
76	Holly	4,747	down 2
77	Heidi	4,714	up 4
78	Ann	4,558	down 16
79	Crystal	4,530	up 22
80	Tamara	4,486	down 1
81	Sheila	4,333	down 6
82	Diana	4,211	up 7
83	Diane	4,208	down 13
84	Amanda	4,130	up 24
85	Melinda	4,057	up 8
86	Margaret	4,001	down 6
87	Kristen	3,967	down 4
88	Suzanne	3,932	down 1
89	Christy	3,930	up 16
90	Regina	3,874	down 4
91	Kathy	3,863	down 14
92	Carol	3,857	down 21
93	Erin	3,856	up 18
94	Jodi	3,826	up 1
95	Deanna	3,791	down 5
96	Laurie	3,749	down 8
97	Victoria	3,722	down 12
98	Yolanda	3,721	up 8
99	Danielle	3,716	up 15
100	Beth	3,686	down 8

Top boys' names, 1971
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1970
1	Michael	77,577	same
2	James	54,597	same
3	David	53,113	same
4	John	51,512	same
5	Robert	50,634	same
6	Christopher	48,225	same
7	William	35,413	same
8	Jason	34,173	up 5
9	Brian	32,624	down 1
10	Scott	30,901	up 2
11	Richard	26,154	down 1
12	Jeffrey	25,834	down 1
13	Mark	25,132	down 4
14	Kevin	24,850	same
15	Joseph	24,517	up 1
16	Steven	23,686	down 1
17	Thomas	23,149	same
18	Eric	22,962	same
19	Matthew	22,543	up 5
20	Daniel	21,785	down 1
21	Timothy	20,089	down 1
22	Charles	19,851	down 1
23	Anthony	19,223	down 1
24	Paul	17,469	down 1
25	Kenneth	14,763	same
26	Gregory	14,760	same
27	Stephen	13,102	same
28	Shawn	12,825	up 6
29	Chad	12,137	up 22
30	Todd	12,055	down 2
31	Ronald	11,617	down 2
32	Edward	11,062	down 1
33	Andrew	10,911	down 1
34	Donald	10,872	down 4
35	Patrick	10,808	down 2
36	Sean	10,510	up 1
37	Keith	9,851	up 1
38	Gary	9,190	down 3
39	Douglas	8,737	down 3
40	Jonathan	8,628	up 2
41	Aaron	8,403	up 11
42	George	8,226	down 2
43	Craig	7,957	down 4
44	Larry	7,763	down 1
45	Jeremy	7,498	up 25
46	Troy	7,340	down 5
47	Peter	7,025	down 3
48	Bryan	6,611	up 5
49	Dennis	6,584	down 3
50	Jerry	6,572	down 5
51	Ryan	6,184	up 89
52	Raymond	6,104	down 3
53	Jeffery	6,100	down 3
54	Frank	6,089	down 6
55	Jose	6,004	up 1
56	Terry	5,858	down 2
57	Adam	5,846	up 15
58	Bradley	5,780	down 11
59	Rodney	5,195	down 4
60	Shane	5,093	up 4
61	Travis	5,016	up 8
62	Tony	4,889	down 5
63	Derek	4,667	up 14
64	Russell	4,545	down 6
65	Marcus	4,410	up 6
66	Samuel	4,407	down 4
67	Randy	4,345	down 8
68	Chris	4,293	down 5
69	Benjamin	4,251	up 12
70	Marc	4,212	down 10
71	Roger	4,129	down 10
72	Carl	4,055	down 6
73	Brent	4,053	up 1
74	Johnny	3,939	down 9
75	Billy	3,907	up 3
76	Phillip	3,850	down 3
77	Corey	3,766	up 7
78	Jon	3,717	down 10
79	Bobby	3,652	up 8
80	Joshua	3,650	up 70
81	Juan	3,648	up 14
82	Danny	3,611	up 3
83	Gerald	3,588	down 16
84	Derrick	3,582	up 12
85	Lawrence	3,523	down 2
86	Joel	3,499	down 4
87	Vincent	3,435	down 8
88	Carlos	3,426	up 10
89	Curtis	3,426	down 1
90	Brett	3,357	up 9
91	Walter	3,356	down 2
92	Wayne	3,331	down 12
93	Jimmy	3,315	down 7
94	Philip	3,302	down 2
95	Brandon	3,263	up 36
96	Jamie	3,231	up 29
97	Erik	3,212	up 4
98	Lance	3,175	down 22
99	Alan	3,168	down 8
100	Darren	3,156	down 25

Biggest climbers in 1971

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1970.

Girls

Tanisha: up 471 places, from 977th to 506th
Latasha: up 278 places, from 722nd to 444th
Tosha: up 264 places, from 970th to 706th
Consuelo: up 263 places, from 868th to 605th
Latisha: up 243 places, from 742nd to 499th
Kesha: up 230 places, from 907th to 677th
Trista: up 224 places, from 935th to 711th
Tiffani: up 212 places, from 743rd to 531st
Tawanda: up 212 places, from 909th to 697th
Tera: up 203 places, from 764th to 561st

Boys

Jermaine: up 389 places, from 622nd to 233rd
Jonah: up 316 places, from 963rd to 647th
Shad: up 212 places, from 615th to 403rd
Ali: up 204 places, from 911th to 707th
Kirby: up 201 places, from 677th to 476th
Jeromy: up 164 places, from 815th to 651st
Jennifer: up 161 places, from 754th to 593rd
Chance: up 143 places, from 729th to 586th
Lamonte: up 140 places, from 998th to 858th
Alvaro: up 139 places, from 921st to 782nd

New to the top 1,000 in 1971

Girls

Yesenia, 409th (its first time ever)
Candida, 686th (its first time ever)
Tarsha, 717th (its first time ever)
Tameka, 726th (its first time ever)
Kendall, 742nd (back after dropping out)
Ayanna, 753rd (its first time ever)
Tamala, 801st (back after dropping out)
Jenni, 803rd (its first time ever)
Brandie, 819th (its first time ever)
Shantel, 824th (its first time ever)

Boys

Tate, 771st (its first time ever)
Germaine, 830th (its first time ever)
Nigel, 834th (its first time ever)
Jerod, 847th (its first time ever)
Osvaldo, 855th (back after dropping out)
Christoper, 860th (its first time ever)
Tristan, 863rd (its first time ever)
Chadd, 864th (its first time ever)
Jarod, 865th (its first time ever)
Brannon, 878th (its first time ever)

How spread out were names in 1971?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 16.8% of the girls counted in 1971, and the top ten boys' names to 26.5% of the boys. In 1951, those shares were 24% for girls and 33.8% for boys.

Source: Social Security Administration, national baby name data, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.