Most Popular Baby Names of 1972

In 1972, Jennifer was the most popular name for girls, given to 63,600 babies, and Michael topped the boys' list with 71,393. Jennifer held on to number one for a third year in a row, and Michael held on to number one for a 12th year in a row.

Social Security counted 1,521,244 girls and 1,621,608 boys born in 1972 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 9,666 different girls' names and 5,751 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1972

Top girls' names, 1972
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1971
1	Jennifer	63,600	same
2	Michelle	29,285	same
3	Lisa	27,543	same
4	Kimberly	26,282	same
5	Amy	25,873	same
6	Angela	23,561	same
7	Melissa	22,494	same
8	Stephanie	16,890	up 3
9	Heather	16,320	up 3
10	Nicole	15,755	up 17
11	Tammy	14,211	down 3
12	Julie	14,062	down 2
13	Mary	13,757	down 4
14	Rebecca	13,252	up 9
15	Elizabeth	12,182	up 4
16	Christine	11,986	up 2
17	Laura	11,778	down 1
18	Tina	11,523	up 2
19	Tracy	11,436	down 6
20	Dawn	11,340	down 6
21	Karen	11,181	down 6
22	Shannon	10,965	down 1
23	Kelly	10,944	down 1
24	Susan	10,574	down 7
25	Cynthia	10,173	down 1
26	Christina	10,172	up 4
27	Patricia	9,602	down 1
28	Lori	9,434	down 3
29	Wendy	8,529	same
30	Andrea	8,022	up 5
31	Sandra	7,917	same
32	Maria	7,721	up 5
33	Stacy	7,604	down 1
34	Pamela	7,472	down 6
35	Denise	7,382	up 1
36	Michele	7,380	up 3
37	Tonya	7,244	up 8
38	Tara	7,234	up 11
39	Teresa	7,176	down 5
40	Rachel	6,417	up 14
41	Stacey	6,380	same
42	Melanie	6,296	up 24
43	Deborah	6,271	down 10
44	Brenda	6,270	down 1
45	Donna	6,257	down 7
46	Jessica	6,206	up 18
47	Monica	6,133	up 1
48	April	6,120	up 8
49	Sarah	6,114	up 9
50	Sharon	6,111	down 10
51	Linda	5,742	down 9
52	Dana	5,610	down 8
53	Carrie	5,421	up 2
54	Tanya	5,402	up 18
55	Robin	5,369	down 4
56	Cheryl	5,136	down 6
57	Kathleen	5,097	down 4
58	Barbara	5,080	down 11
59	Crystal	5,044	up 20
60	Rhonda	5,001	down 14
61	Tiffany	4,844	up 1
62	Jill	4,824	down 3
63	Nancy	4,818	down 11
64	Heidi	4,723	up 13
65	Catherine	4,686	same
66	Debra	4,666	down 9
67	Kristin	4,586	up 4
68	Theresa	4,569	down 7
69	Katherine	4,514	down 2
70	Sherry	4,447	down 10
71	Holly	4,376	up 5
72	Paula	4,260	down 9
73	Danielle	4,201	up 26
74	Christy	4,190	up 15
75	Leslie	4,184	down 7
76	Amanda	4,180	up 8
77	Renee	4,088	down 4
78	Gina	4,057	down 9
79	Jacqueline	3,803	down 4
80	Cindy	3,737	down 10
81	Melinda	3,671	up 4
82	Veronica	3,563	up 28
83	Diana	3,548	down 1
84	Tamara	3,531	down 4
85	Kristen	3,527	up 2
86	Anna	3,449	up 20
87	Erica	3,443	up 21
88	Tracey	3,407	down 14
89	Yolanda	3,398	up 9
90	Sheila	3,394	down 9
91	Ann	3,360	down 13
92	Suzanne	3,300	down 4
93	Erin	3,289	same
94	Shelly	3,288	up 9
95	Margaret	3,286	down 9
96	Alicia	3,268	up 9
97	Jodi	3,259	down 3
98	Laurie	3,227	down 2
99	Victoria	3,206	down 2
100	Valerie	3,193	up 2

Top boys' names, 1972
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1971
1	Michael	71,393	same
2	Christopher	52,172	up 4
3	James	47,063	down 1
4	David	46,322	down 1
5	John	43,158	down 1
6	Robert	43,013	down 1
7	Jason	37,423	up 1
8	Brian	36,306	up 1
9	William	30,510	down 2
10	Matthew	22,928	up 9
11	Scott	22,838	down 1
12	Joseph	22,454	up 3
13	Kevin	22,354	up 1
14	Richard	22,302	down 3
15	Daniel	22,092	up 5
16	Eric	22,027	up 2
17	Jeffrey	21,677	down 5
18	Mark	21,490	down 5
19	Steven	19,851	down 3
20	Thomas	19,557	down 3
21	Timothy	17,605	same
22	Anthony	17,454	up 1
23	Charles	16,968	down 1
24	Paul	14,555	same
25	Chad	13,392	up 4
26	Gregory	13,056	same
27	Kenneth	12,334	down 2
28	Shawn	11,277	same
29	Stephen	11,037	down 2
30	Andrew	10,111	up 3
31	Todd	9,968	down 1
32	Ronald	9,502	down 1
33	Sean	9,444	up 3
34	Edward	9,292	down 2
35	Patrick	9,276	same
36	Donald	9,261	down 2
37	Jonathan	9,219	up 3
38	Keith	9,145	down 1
39	Ryan	8,878	up 12
40	Aaron	7,863	up 1
41	Gary	7,758	down 3
42	Jeremy	7,398	up 3
43	Douglas	7,387	down 4
44	George	7,167	down 2
45	Bryan	7,035	up 3
46	Craig	6,729	down 3
47	Larry	6,604	down 3
48	Peter	6,471	down 1
49	Troy	6,348	down 3
50	Jose	5,935	up 5
51	Adam	5,740	up 6
52	Dennis	5,608	down 3
53	Jerry	5,597	down 3
54	Raymond	5,443	down 2
55	Shane	5,236	up 5
56	Frank	5,165	down 2
57	Travis	5,136	up 4
58	Jeffery	5,063	down 5
59	Joshua	5,033	up 21
60	Justin	4,975	up 43
61	Bradley	4,839	down 3
62	Terry	4,770	down 6
63	Brandon	4,625	up 32
64	Benjamin	4,498	up 5
65	Rodney	4,363	down 6
66	Samuel	4,213	same
67	Derek	4,146	down 4
68	Tony	4,001	down 6
69	Russell	3,782	down 5
70	Randy	3,739	down 3
71	Marcus	3,685	down 6
72	Jamie	3,680	up 24
73	Juan	3,672	up 8
74	Johnny	3,564	same
75	Phillip	3,532	up 1
76	Roger	3,531	down 5
77	Brent	3,530	down 4
78	Joel	3,528	up 8
79	Nathan	3,512	up 25
80	Brett	3,503	up 10
81	Billy	3,473	down 6
82	Chris	3,472	down 14
83	Marc	3,465	down 13
84	Carlos	3,434	up 4
85	Carl	3,406	down 13
86	Erik	3,398	up 11
87	Danny	3,306	down 5
88	Jesse	3,226	up 19
89	Jon	3,221	down 11
90	Bobby	3,171	down 11
91	Derrick	3,088	down 7
92	Curtis	3,080	down 3
93	Antonio	3,028	up 17
94	Shannon	3,014	up 12
95	Corey	2,990	down 18
96	Christian	2,962	up 26
97	Jimmy	2,932	down 4
98	Walter	2,918	down 7
99	Nicholas	2,843	up 24
100	Joe	2,825	up 1

Biggest climbers in 1972

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1971.

Girls

Latoya: up 346 places, from 906th to 560th
Brandie: up 335 places, from 819th to 484th
Jenna: up 331 places, from 881st to 550th
Niki: up 310 places, from 937th to 627th
Ayanna: up 247 places, from 753rd to 506th
Brandy: up 213 places, from 353rd to 140th
Tameka: up 203 places, from 726th to 523rd
Kasey: up 201 places, from 857th to 656th
Brandi: up 189 places, from 330th to 141st
Ebony: up 182 places, from 828th to 646th

Boys

Garrick: up 242 places, from 807th to 565th
Toriano: up 240 places, from 931st to 691st
Damien: up 208 places, from 681st to 473rd
Germaine: up 201 places, from 830th to 629th
Damion: up 195 places, from 709th to 514th
Carmelo: up 187 places, from 904th to 717th
Kristofer: up 181 places, from 955th to 774th
Aurelio: up 165 places, from 991st to 826th
Antwan: up 164 places, from 857th to 693rd
Kwame: up 156 places, from 937th to 781st

New to the top 1,000 in 1972

Girls

Katina, 117th (its first time ever)
Catina, 202nd (its first time ever)
Kami, 551st (back after dropping out)
Cher, 651st (its first time ever)
Lakisha, 662nd (its first time ever)
Chastity, 675th (its first time ever)
Nikole, 689th (its first time ever)
Contina, 696th (its first time ever)
Chiquita, 703rd (its first time ever)
Shane, 711th (its first time ever)

Boys

Demond, 391st (its first time ever)
Kareem, 405th (its first time ever)
Vidal, 623rd (its first time ever)
Zachariah, 696th (its first time ever)
Jamar, 762nd (its first time ever)
Kenya, 786th (back after dropping out)
Abdul, 808th (its first time ever)
Jermain, 830th (its first time ever)
Tremayne, 834th (its first time ever)
Chase, 841st (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1972?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 17.6% of the girls counted in 1972, and the top ten boys' names to 26.5% of the boys. In 1952, those shares were 23.2% for girls and 33.7% 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.