Most Popular Baby Names of 1973

In 1973, Jennifer was the most popular name for girls, given to 62,448 babies, and Michael topped the boys' list with 67,797. Jennifer held on to number one for a fourth year in a row, and Michael held on to number one for a 13th year in a row.

Social Security counted 1,458,209 girls and 1,558,576 boys born in 1973 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 9,810 different girls' names and 5,877 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1973

Top girls' names, 1973
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1972
1	Jennifer	62,448	same
2	Amy	26,962	up 3
3	Michelle	26,935	down 1
4	Kimberly	23,531	same
5	Lisa	22,677	down 2
6	Melissa	22,479	up 1
7	Angela	20,898	down 1
8	Heather	19,347	up 1
9	Stephanie	17,263	down 1
10	Rebecca	14,868	up 4
11	Nicole	13,922	down 1
12	Julie	12,785	same
13	Elizabeth	12,360	up 2
14	Mary	12,313	down 1
15	Tammy	11,244	down 4
16	Christina	10,888	up 10
17	Christine	10,549	down 1
18	Kelly	10,512	up 5
19	Laura	10,344	down 2
20	Tracy	9,913	down 1
21	Dawn	9,890	down 1
22	Shannon	9,802	same
23	Karen	9,352	down 2
24	Tina	9,307	down 6
25	Susan	9,279	down 1
26	Cynthia	8,743	down 1
27	Patricia	8,476	same
28	Lori	8,472	same
29	Wendy	7,810	same
30	Andrea	7,766	same
31	Maria	7,667	up 1
32	Stacy	7,338	up 1
33	April	7,264	up 15
34	Jessica	7,228	up 12
35	Sarah	7,214	up 14
36	Tonya	7,184	up 1
37	Tara	6,707	up 1
38	Denise	6,615	down 3
39	Sandra	6,585	down 8
40	Monica	6,380	up 7
41	Stacey	6,253	same
42	Rachel	6,103	down 2
43	Melanie	6,079	down 1
44	Michele	5,996	down 8
45	Teresa	5,986	down 6
46	Carrie	5,835	up 7
47	Pamela	5,813	down 13
48	Crystal	5,768	up 11
49	Danielle	5,648	up 24
50	Tanya	5,632	up 4
51	Amanda	5,625	up 25
52	Tiffany	5,501	up 9
53	Brenda	5,379	down 9
54	Holly	5,114	up 17
55	Donna	5,058	down 10
56	Deborah	4,980	down 13
57	Sharon	4,963	down 7
58	Kristen	4,936	up 27
59	Dana	4,934	down 7
60	Robin	4,804	down 5
61	Linda	4,731	down 10
62	Jill	4,538	same
63	Barbara	4,433	down 5
64	Katherine	4,420	up 5
65	Heidi	4,396	down 1
66	Tamara	4,286	up 18
67	Catherine	4,261	down 2
68	Kathleen	4,250	down 11
69	Theresa	4,178	down 1
70	Rhonda	4,161	down 10
71	Veronica	4,152	up 11
72	Melinda	4,144	up 9
73	Christy	4,121	up 1
74	Cheryl	4,010	down 18
75	Leslie	3,954	same
76	Sherry	3,952	down 6
77	Nancy	3,945	down 14
78	Kristin	3,903	down 11
79	Erin	3,877	up 14
80	Renee	3,846	down 3
81	Erica	3,793	up 6
82	Brandy	3,715	up 58
83	Gina	3,699	down 5
84	Debra	3,652	down 18
85	Diana	3,519	down 2
86	Anna	3,507	same
87	Paula	3,504	down 15
88	Jacqueline	3,500	down 9
89	Sara	3,479	up 12
90	Misty	3,475	up 35
91	Alicia	3,433	up 5
92	Cindy	3,280	down 12
93	Ann	3,255	down 2
94	Margaret	3,167	up 1
95	Victoria	3,070	up 4
96	Valerie	3,042	up 4
97	Kristina	3,037	up 15
98	Suzanne	3,036	down 6
99	Emily	3,027	up 32
100	Jodi	3,024	down 3

Top boys' names, 1973
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1972
1	Michael	67,797	same
2	Christopher	48,313	same
3	Jason	46,683	up 4
4	James	42,836	down 1
5	David	41,082	down 1
6	John	39,165	down 1
7	Robert	38,698	down 1
8	Brian	35,686	same
9	William	28,018	same
10	Matthew	24,531	same
11	Daniel	23,672	up 4
12	Joseph	21,326	same
13	Eric	20,802	up 3
14	Kevin	20,768	down 1
15	Mark	20,367	up 3
16	Richard	19,942	down 2
17	Jeffrey	19,216	same
18	Scott	18,980	down 7
19	Thomas	17,921	up 1
20	Steven	17,175	down 1
21	Anthony	16,414	up 1
22	Timothy	16,036	down 1
23	Charles	15,752	same
24	Paul	12,901	same
25	Chad	12,886	same
26	Gregory	11,674	same
27	Shawn	11,451	up 1
28	Kenneth	10,979	down 1
29	Andrew	10,728	up 1
30	Ryan	10,511	up 9
31	Jonathan	10,273	up 6
32	Stephen	9,955	down 3
33	Jeremy	9,363	up 9
34	Aaron	9,232	up 6
35	Todd	8,677	down 4
36	Sean	8,553	down 3
37	Patrick	8,480	down 2
38	Donald	8,361	down 2
39	Edward	8,360	down 5
40	Ronald	8,327	down 8
41	Keith	8,165	down 3
42	Joshua	8,057	up 17
43	Bryan	7,110	up 2
44	Gary	6,851	down 3
45	Adam	6,842	up 6
46	George	6,601	down 2
47	Douglas	6,595	down 4
48	Craig	6,295	down 2
49	Jose	6,097	up 1
50	Larry	6,080	down 3
51	Justin	6,078	up 9
52	Peter	5,913	down 4
53	Travis	5,868	up 4
54	Shane	5,710	up 1
55	Benjamin	5,226	up 9
56	Dennis	5,176	down 4
57	Jerry	5,097	down 4
58	Brandon	5,065	up 5
59	Troy	5,064	down 10
60	Raymond	4,831	down 6
61	Frank	4,785	down 5
62	Bradley	4,748	down 1
63	Nathan	4,734	up 16
64	Jeffery	4,407	down 6
65	Terry	4,374	down 3
66	Samuel	4,267	same
67	Juan	4,087	up 6
68	Rodney	4,059	down 3
69	Derek	3,919	down 2
70	Jamie	3,913	up 2
71	Phillip	3,861	up 4
72	Marcus	3,714	down 1
73	Joel	3,570	up 5
74	Carlos	3,569	up 10
75	Jesse	3,442	up 13
76	Billy	3,437	up 5
77	Russell	3,397	down 8
78	Tony	3,348	down 10
79	Randy	3,345	down 9
80	Brent	3,287	down 3
81	Marc	3,275	up 2
82	Johnny	3,267	down 8
83	Danny	3,181	up 4
84	Roger	3,155	down 8
85	Nicholas	3,153	up 14
86	Erik	3,062	same
87	Derrick	3,054	up 4
88	Brett	3,030	down 8
89	Corey	3,019	up 6
90	Carl	3,013	down 5
91	Philip	2,997	up 13
92	Antonio	2,965	up 1
93	Bobby	2,889	down 3
94	Jon	2,798	down 5
95	Jimmy	2,735	up 2
96	Chris	2,703	down 14
97	Christian	2,693	down 1
98	Curtis	2,690	down 6
99	Vincent	2,686	up 6
100	Shannon	2,636	down 6

Biggest climbers in 1973

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1972.

Girls

Tracee: up 433 places, from 971st to 538th
Chastity: up 295 places, from 675th to 380th
Chasity: up 287 places, from 753rd to 466th
Sasha: up 284 places, from 867th to 583rd
Lakeisha: up 281 places, from 836th to 555th
Kori: up 242 places, from 980th to 738th
Jena: up 228 places, from 916th to 688th
Latosha: up 225 places, from 834th to 609th
Charisse: up 197 places, from 983rd to 786th
Lakesha: up 194 places, from 827th to 633rd

Boys

Rahsaan: up 219 places, from 967th to 748th
Nathanael: up 189 places, from 983rd to 794th
Jeremiah: up 175 places, from 431st to 256th
Damond: up 164 places, from 931st to 767th
Tremayne: up 162 places, from 834th to 672nd
Caleb: up 156 places, from 740th to 584th
Kristoffer: up 155 places, from 914th to 759th
Josue: up 154 places, from 898th to 744th
Octavio: up 154 places, from 936th to 782nd
Jamel: up 152 places, from 836th to 684th

New to the top 1,000 in 1973

Girls

Alethea, 522nd (its first time ever)
Carly, 630th (its first time ever)
Aisha, 669th (its first time ever)
Cicely, 702nd (its first time ever)
Anitra, 772nd (its first time ever)
Bianca, 781st (its first time ever)
Vonetta, 819th (its first time ever)
Latarsha, 834th (its first time ever)
Nyree, 836th (its first time ever)
Delilah, 837th (back after dropping out)

Boys

Jory, 755th (back after dropping out)
Burt, 792nd (back after dropping out)
Vashon, 809th (its first time ever)
Arnulfo, 843rd (back after dropping out)
Taurus, 851st (its first time ever)
Shedrick, 872nd (back after dropping out)
Baron, 874th (back after dropping out)
Cordell, 875th (back after dropping out)
Ivory, 880th (back after dropping out)
Chadrick, 894th (its first time ever)

How spread out were names in 1973?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 17.7% of the girls counted in 1973, and the top ten boys' names to 26.5% of the boys. In 1953, those shares were 23.1% for girls and 33.2% 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.