Most Popular Baby Names of 1977

In 1977, Jennifer was the most popular name for girls, given to 58,964 babies, and Michael topped the boys' list with 67,587. Jennifer held on to number one for a eighth year in a row, and Michael held on to number one for a 17th year in a row.

Social Security counted 1,533,146 girls and 1,643,220 boys born in 1977 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 11,329 different girls' names and 6,861 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1977

Top girls' names, 1977
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1976
1	Jennifer	58,964	same
2	Melissa	26,879	up 1
3	Amy	26,729	down 1
4	Jessica	24,846	up 4
5	Heather	23,773	down 1
6	Angela	20,998	down 1
7	Michelle	19,540	down 1
8	Kimberly	18,286	down 1
9	Amanda	18,278	up 1
10	Kelly	18,234	up 9
11	Sarah	18,096	up 4
12	Lisa	17,014	down 3
13	Elizabeth	16,431	up 3
14	Stephanie	15,417	down 3
15	Nicole	15,247	down 2
16	Christina	14,501	down 2
17	Rebecca	14,196	down 5
18	Jamie	12,895	same
19	Shannon	12,518	down 2
20	Laura	11,318	same
21	Mary	10,656	up 1
22	Julie	10,204	down 1
23	Erin	10,198	up 1
24	Andrea	9,782	up 1
25	Crystal	9,724	up 11
26	Rachel	8,976	down 3
27	Sara	8,709	same
28	Carrie	8,661	same
29	April	8,068	up 1
30	Christine	7,886	down 4
31	Danielle	7,616	up 2
32	Karen	7,441	down 1
33	Amber	7,207	up 16
34	Tiffany	7,205	down 2
35	Tara	7,198	up 7
36	Maria	7,094	down 2
37	Emily	6,879	up 13
38	Erica	6,624	up 16
39	Monica	6,366	up 6
40	Misty	6,315	up 6
41	Jill	6,238	up 11
42	Stacy	6,154	down 4
43	Dawn	6,096	down 8
44	Katherine	6,030	up 13
45	Susan	5,961	down 5
46	Jaime	5,906	down 17
47	Patricia	5,903	down 4
48	Cynthia	5,782	down 4
49	Wendy	5,764	down 10
50	Tracy	5,756	down 13
51	Brandy	5,477	up 4
52	Holly	5,463	up 4
53	Melanie	5,373	same
54	Megan	5,320	up 8
55	Tammy	5,310	down 14
56	Stacey	5,206	down 5
57	Lori	5,072	down 10
58	Tina	4,951	down 10
59	Christy	4,602	up 1
60	Alicia	4,400	up 11
61	Sandra	4,373	down 2
62	Dana	4,339	up 2
63	Sabrina	4,305	up 83
64	Tonya	4,263	down 6
65	Leslie	4,250	same
66	Allison	4,205	up 1
67	Tanya	4,085	down 6
68	Kristy	4,045	up 45
69	Natalie	4,043	up 11
70	Kathryn	3,964	up 18
71	Brandi	3,885	up 8
72	Kristen	3,861	up 1
73	Veronica	3,853	down 5
74	Anna	3,851	up 4
75	Catherine	3,840	down 3
76	Courtney	3,808	same
77	Michele	3,711	down 14
78	Denise	3,681	down 9
79	Teresa	3,654	down 13
80	Kathleen	3,649	up 2
81	Heidi	3,640	down 11
82	Kristin	3,605	down 8
83	Kristina	3,539	up 14
84	Robin	3,428	down 9
85	Samantha	3,284	same
86	Valerie	3,266	down 3
87	Renee	3,259	down 1
88	Gina	3,231	up 6
89	Nancy	3,222	down 2
90	Vanessa	3,209	up 16
91	Brenda	3,151	down 14
92	Jacqueline	3,148	up 7
93	Tamara	3,126	down 2
94	Mandy	3,100	up 6
95	Sharon	3,089	down 14
96	Melinda	3,044	down 1
97	Beth	2,967	up 17
98	Theresa	2,914	down 9
99	Linda	2,912	down 9
100	Diana	2,846	up 1

Top boys' names, 1977
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1976
1	Michael	67,587	same
2	Jason	55,631	same
3	Christopher	46,721	same
4	David	40,515	same
5	James	40,040	same
6	Robert	34,214	up 1
7	John	34,195	down 1
8	Brian	32,492	same
9	Matthew	31,965	same
10	Joseph	26,483	up 2
11	Daniel	26,073	down 1
12	William	24,758	down 1
13	Kevin	22,463	up 2
14	Joshua	22,068	up 4
15	Jeremy	21,610	down 1
16	Ryan	21,246	same
17	Eric	20,745	down 4
18	Timothy	17,977	up 3
19	Jeffrey	17,481	down 2
20	Richard	17,442	down 1
21	Anthony	16,804	up 1
22	Thomas	16,586	up 1
23	Steven	16,484	down 3
24	Andrew	16,017	up 3
25	Mark	15,418	same
26	Charles	14,743	same
27	Scott	14,203	down 3
28	Jonathan	12,319	up 3
29	Benjamin	12,106	up 3
30	Justin	12,008	up 3
31	Paul	11,798	down 3
32	Aaron	11,631	down 2
33	Adam	11,030	up 3
34	Chad	10,831	down 5
35	Gregory	10,052	same
36	Nathan	9,886	up 3
37	Shawn	9,865	down 3
38	Stephen	9,635	down 1
39	Kenneth	9,452	down 1
40	Patrick	8,305	up 1
41	Brandon	8,272	down 1
42	Bryan	7,886	up 1
43	Sean	7,625	down 1
44	Travis	7,277	up 2
45	Jose	6,919	down 1
46	Donald	6,866	up 1
47	Edward	6,840	down 2
48	Keith	6,597	same
49	Bradley	6,431	up 2
50	Todd	6,276	same
51	Nicholas	6,071	up 26
52	Corey	6,041	up 12
53	Ronald	6,026	down 4
54	Jesse	5,823	up 1
55	Peter	5,821	down 1
56	Jacob	5,788	up 7
57	George	5,606	down 4
58	Gary	5,447	down 6
59	Douglas	5,297	down 3
60	Samuel	5,257	down 1
61	Shane	4,868	down 4
62	Larry	4,837	down 2
63	Juan	4,562	down 5
64	Craig	4,560	down 3
65	Raymond	4,372	same
66	Wesley	4,302	up 53
67	Cory	4,259	up 16
68	Dennis	4,152	down 2
69	Jeremiah	4,151	up 24
70	Phillip	3,967	down 1
71	Frank	3,894	down 3
72	Marcus	3,846	up 2
73	Joel	3,824	down 1
74	Carlos	3,795	down 4
75	Jerry	3,745	down 8
76	Jared	3,738	up 14
77	Antonio	3,662	down 6
78	Jeffery	3,564	down 2
79	Kyle	3,505	up 1
80	Derrick	3,481	up 11
81	Dustin	3,477	up 1
82	Jamie	3,447	down 20
83	Terry	3,443	down 8
84	Derek	3,441	same
85	Brent	3,423	down 7
86	Randy	3,397	down 7
87	Gabriel	3,346	down 6
88	Troy	3,307	down 15
89	Russell	3,124	down 2
90	Philip	3,093	down 1
91	Billy	2,950	down 6
92	Tony	2,938	down 6
93	Johnny	2,801	down 1
94	Erik	2,786	same
95	Zachary	2,777	up 2
96	Alexander	2,704	up 11
97	Rodney	2,703	down 9
98	Jimmy	2,637	up 3
99	Carl	2,615	down 4
100	Curtis	2,605	up 5

Biggest climbers in 1977

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1976.

Girls

Sommer: up 411 places, from 852nd to 441st
Jaclyn: up 391 places, from 539th to 148th
Jillian: up 379 places, from 615th to 236th
Marlena: up 363 places, from 827th to 464th
Salina: up 356 places, from 851st to 495th
Ryan: up 325 places, from 841st to 516th
Jada: up 299 places, from 943rd to 644th
Kenisha: up 268 places, from 953rd to 685th
Shanta: up 265 places, from 842nd to 577th
Selina: up 255 places, from 735th to 480th

Boys

Kristoffer: up 330 places, from 891st to 561st
Rashad: up 329 places, from 784th to 455th
Marques: up 279 places, from 910th to 631st
Cyrus: up 215 places, from 947th to 732nd
Elvis: up 213 places, from 679th to 466th
Cortney: up 208 places, from 914th to 706th
Delvin: up 203 places, from 950th to 747th
Tanner: up 199 places, from 976th to 777th
Ezekiel: up 195 places, from 964th to 769th
Shaun: up 193 places, from 296th to 103rd

New to the top 1,000 in 1977

Girls

Kizzy, 223rd (its first time ever)
Haley, 442nd (back after dropping out)
Devon, 543rd (its first time ever)
Raven, 579th (its first time ever)
Kizzie, 598th (back after dropping out)
Qiana, 651st (its first time ever)
Talia, 709th (its first time ever)
Hayley, 711th (its first time ever)
Bambi, 721st (back after dropping out)
Shawnte, 744th (its first time ever)

Boys

Levar, 343rd (its first time ever)
Lavar, 486th (its first time ever)
Kunta, 572nd (its first time ever)
Raheem, 699th (back after dropping out)
Jedediah, 762nd (its first time ever)
Jerimiah, 776th (its first time ever)
Westley, 791st (back after dropping out)
Eliseo, 831st (back after dropping out)
Kinte, 841st (its first time ever)
Cale, 847th (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1977?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 16.7% of the girls counted in 1977, and the top ten boys' names to 24.9% of the boys. In 1957, those shares were 20.1% for girls and 30.8% 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.