Most Popular Baby Names of 1974

In 1974, Jennifer was the most popular name for girls, given to 63,107 babies, and Michael topped the boys' list with 67,534. Jennifer held on to number one for a fifth year in a row, and Michael held on to number one for a 14th year in a row.

Social Security counted 1,467,534 girls and 1,572,334 boys born in 1974 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 10,247 different girls' names and 6,004 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1974

Top girls' names, 1974
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1973
1	Jennifer	63,107	same
2	Amy	29,566	same
3	Michelle	25,826	same
4	Heather	23,179	up 4
5	Angela	22,803	up 2
6	Kimberly	22,427	down 2
7	Melissa	22,166	down 1
8	Lisa	19,778	down 3
9	Stephanie	16,984	same
10	Rebecca	15,163	same
11	Nicole	13,112	same
12	Elizabeth	12,259	up 1
13	Mary	11,738	up 1
14	Julie	11,360	down 2
15	Kelly	10,851	up 3
16	Christina	10,849	same
17	Jessica	10,656	up 17
18	Shannon	10,608	up 4
19	Christine	9,901	down 2
20	Sarah	9,788	up 15
21	Laura	9,716	down 2
22	Dawn	9,417	down 1
23	Tracy	9,286	down 3
24	Tammy	9,238	down 9
25	Tina	8,668	down 1
26	Karen	8,643	down 3
27	Susan	8,470	down 2
28	April	8,454	up 5
29	Patricia	8,036	down 2
30	Lori	7,960	down 2
31	Maria	7,804	same
32	Wendy	7,564	down 3
33	Cynthia	7,557	down 7
34	Amanda	7,473	up 17
35	Andrea	7,472	down 5
36	Rachel	7,399	up 6
37	Tonya	6,878	down 1
38	Stacy	6,741	down 6
39	Tara	6,657	down 2
40	Danielle	6,629	up 9
41	Tiffany	6,482	up 11
42	Carrie	6,436	up 4
43	Monica	6,281	down 3
44	Sandra	6,270	down 5
45	Kristen	6,052	up 13
46	Tanya	5,997	up 4
47	Erin	5,868	up 32
48	Stacey	5,803	down 7
49	Crystal	5,622	down 1
50	Michele	5,587	down 6
51	Melanie	5,483	down 8
52	Teresa	5,397	down 7
53	Denise	5,395	down 15
54	Pamela	5,272	down 7
55	Dana	5,158	up 4
56	Holly	5,144	down 2
57	Christy	5,067	up 16
58	Jill	5,061	up 4
59	Brenda	4,830	down 6
60	Heidi	4,683	up 5
61	Sara	4,650	up 28
62	Katherine	4,530	up 2
63	Robin	4,525	down 3
64	Tamara	4,525	up 2
65	Leslie	4,463	up 10
66	Misty	4,439	up 24
67	Donna	4,354	down 12
68	Deborah	4,343	down 12
69	Emily	4,329	up 30
70	Sharon	4,276	down 13
71	Veronica	4,226	same
72	Kristin	4,218	up 6
73	Catherine	4,184	down 6
74	Erica	4,121	up 7
75	Linda	4,077	down 14
76	Kathleen	3,953	down 8
77	Barbara	3,906	down 14
78	Nancy	3,891	down 1
79	Theresa	3,857	down 10
80	Brandy	3,832	up 2
81	Melinda	3,752	down 9
82	Anna	3,622	up 4
83	Jacqueline	3,573	up 5
84	Gina	3,560	down 1
85	Renee	3,528	down 5
86	Rhonda	3,525	down 16
87	Diana	3,513	down 2
88	Cheryl	3,496	down 14
89	Sherry	3,436	down 13
90	Alicia	3,434	up 1
91	Jodi	3,306	up 9
92	Amber	3,273	up 38
93	Valerie	3,181	up 3
94	Debra	3,129	down 10
95	Margaret	3,087	down 1
96	Paula	3,061	down 9
97	Jamie	3,020	up 6
98	Kathryn	2,991	up 9
99	Allison	2,959	up 6
100	Ann	2,928	down 7

Top boys' names, 1974
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1973
1	Michael	67,534	same
2	Jason	54,756	up 1
3	Christopher	48,585	down 1
4	David	41,786	up 1
5	James	41,334	down 1
6	John	37,612	same
7	Robert	37,005	same
8	Brian	34,449	same
9	Matthew	27,194	up 1
10	William	26,980	down 1
11	Daniel	23,833	same
12	Joseph	21,834	same
13	Eric	20,193	same
14	Kevin	19,461	same
15	Jeffrey	19,320	up 2
16	Mark	18,905	down 1
17	Richard	18,636	down 1
18	Scott	18,030	same
19	Steven	17,663	up 1
20	Thomas	17,268	down 1
21	Anthony	16,391	same
22	Timothy	15,890	same
23	Charles	15,151	same
24	Jeremy	13,295	up 9
25	Ryan	13,179	up 5
26	Chad	12,788	down 1
27	Paul	12,310	down 3
28	Andrew	11,778	up 1
29	Joshua	11,599	up 13
30	Shawn	11,438	down 3
31	Gregory	10,826	down 5
32	Aaron	10,507	up 2
33	Jonathan	10,230	down 2
34	Kenneth	10,143	down 6
35	Stephen	10,101	down 3
36	Adam	8,421	up 9
37	Sean	8,290	down 1
38	Patrick	8,137	down 1
39	Todd	7,845	down 4
40	Edward	7,817	down 1
41	Donald	7,758	down 3
42	Ronald	7,667	down 2
43	Justin	7,429	up 8
44	Keith	7,390	down 3
45	Bryan	7,226	down 2
46	Benjamin	7,183	up 9
47	Jose	6,720	up 2
48	Gary	6,444	down 4
49	George	6,283	down 3
50	Peter	5,940	up 2
51	Brandon	5,859	up 7
52	Nathan	5,844	up 11
53	Douglas	5,843	down 6
54	Travis	5,702	down 1
55	Larry	5,694	down 5
56	Shane	5,655	down 2
57	Craig	5,539	down 9
58	Bradley	5,173	up 4
59	Dennis	4,880	down 3
60	Samuel	4,672	up 6
61	Jerry	4,664	down 4
62	Raymond	4,577	down 2
63	Troy	4,563	down 4
64	Juan	4,428	up 3
65	Frank	4,365	down 4
66	Jeffery	4,363	down 2
67	Jesse	4,105	up 8
68	Jamie	4,086	up 2
69	Terry	4,027	down 4
70	Phillip	3,934	up 1
71	Carlos	3,871	up 3
72	Rodney	3,849	down 4
73	Marcus	3,801	down 1
74	Derek	3,636	down 5
75	Joel	3,491	down 2
76	Brent	3,413	up 4
77	Corey	3,382	up 12
78	Billy	3,365	down 2
79	Randy	3,342	same
80	Nicholas	3,218	up 5
81	Tony	3,216	down 3
82	Antonio	3,178	up 10
83	Johnny	3,169	down 1
84	Russell	3,168	down 7
85	Marc	3,108	down 4
86	Philip	2,967	up 5
87	Derrick	2,958	same
88	Jacob	2,957	up 34
89	Carl	2,895	up 1
90	Erik	2,881	down 4
91	Danny	2,859	down 8
92	Bobby	2,792	up 1
93	Roger	2,754	down 9
94	Jon	2,750	same
95	Brett	2,677	down 7
96	Victor	2,621	up 7
97	Kyle	2,598	up 13
98	Curtis	2,589	same
99	Jimmy	2,568	down 4
100	Lawrence	2,543	up 4

Biggest climbers in 1974

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1973.

Girls

Jolene: up 317 places, from 562nd to 245th
Anitra: up 316 places, from 772nd to 456th
Christen: up 315 places, from 920th to 605th
Jasmine: up 291 places, from 863rd to 572nd
Miranda: up 245 places, from 520th to 275th
Kira: up 229 places, from 969th to 740th
Summer: up 217 places, from 753rd to 536th
Mindi: up 188 places, from 835th to 647th
Jada: up 182 places, from 900th to 718th
Autumn: up 179 places, from 529th to 350th

Boys

Landon: up 168 places, from 882nd to 714th
Mason: up 158 places, from 647th to 489th
Mauricio: up 148 places, from 798th to 650th
Jevon: up 147 places, from 974th to 827th
Titus: up 145 places, from 892nd to 747th
Che: up 145 places, from 978th to 833rd
Wilfred: up 140 places, from 878th to 738th
Brock: up 138 places, from 648th to 510th
Damien: up 133 places, from 417th to 284th
Lucas: up 133 places, from 452nd to 319th

New to the top 1,000 in 1974

Girls

Nakia, 226th (its first time ever)
Sunshine, 611th (its first time ever)
Lindsey, 650th (its first time ever)
Nia, 674th (its first time ever)
Lindsay, 691st (back after dropping out)
Nikia, 751st (its first time ever)
Regan, 752nd (its first time ever)
Joleen, 754th (back after dropping out)
Jamila, 767th (its first time ever)
Tanika, 769th (its first time ever)

Boys

Nakia, 302nd (its first time ever)
Telly, 469th (its first time ever)
Ahmad, 767th (its first time ever)
Tito, 811th (back after dropping out)
Forest, 858th (back after dropping out)
Jamil, 874th (its first time ever)
Tyree, 881st (back after dropping out)
Toma, 884th (its first time ever)
Trinity, 891st (its first time ever)
Jereme, 894th (its first time ever)

How spread out were names in 1974?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 17.8% of the girls counted in 1974, and the top ten boys' names to 26.5% of the boys. In 1954, those shares were 23% for girls and 32.5% 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.