Most popular baby names of 1974

In 1974, the most popular names for US babies were Michael for boys (67,535 babies, 4.3% of boys) and Jennifer for girls (63,106 babies, 4.3% of girls). The rest of the top five were Jason, Christopher, David and James for boys and Amy, Michelle, Heather and Angela for girls. SSA recorded 6,004 different boy names and 10,248 different girl names that year.

Top 100 boy names, 1974
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Michael	67,535	–
2	Jason	54,751	▲ 1
3	Christopher	48,590	▼ 1
4	David	41,793	▲ 1
5	James	41,336	▼ 1
6	John	37,618	–
7	Robert	37,009	–
8	Brian	34,451	–
9	Matthew	27,197	▲ 1
10	William	26,977	▼ 1
11	Daniel	23,834	–
12	Joseph	21,835	–
13	Eric	20,188	–
14	Kevin	19,464	–
15	Jeffrey	19,322	▲ 2
16	Mark	18,907	▼ 1
17	Richard	18,636	▼ 1
18	Scott	18,031	–
19	Steven	17,667	▲ 1
20	Thomas	17,270	▼ 1
21	Anthony	16,390	–
22	Timothy	15,892	–
23	Charles	15,151	–
24	Jeremy	13,296	▲ 9
25	Ryan	13,179	▲ 5
26	Chad	12,790	▼ 1
27	Paul	12,312	▼ 3
28	Andrew	11,778	▲ 1
29	Joshua	11,599	▲ 13
30	Shawn	11,438	▼ 3
31	Gregory	10,829	▼ 5
32	Aaron	10,508	▲ 2
33	Jonathan	10,231	▼ 2
34	Kenneth	10,146	▼ 6
35	Stephen	10,101	▼ 3
36	Adam	8,425	▲ 9
37	Sean	8,292	▼ 1
38	Patrick	8,137	▼ 1
39	Todd	7,846	▼ 4
40	Edward	7,820	▼ 1
41	Donald	7,759	▼ 3
42	Ronald	7,666	▼ 2
43	Justin	7,430	▲ 8
44	Keith	7,390	▼ 3
45	Bryan	7,228	▼ 2
46	Benjamin	7,183	▲ 9
47	Jose	6,721	▲ 2
48	Gary	6,444	▼ 4
49	George	6,284	▼ 3
50	Peter	5,941	▲ 2
51	Brandon	5,859	▲ 7
52	Nathan	5,846	▲ 11
53	Douglas	5,842	▼ 6
54	Travis	5,702	▼ 1
55	Larry	5,694	▼ 5
56	Shane	5,655	▼ 2
57	Craig	5,539	▼ 9
58	Bradley	5,173	▲ 4
59	Dennis	4,880	▼ 3
60	Samuel	4,671	▲ 6
61	Jerry	4,663	▼ 4
62	Raymond	4,578	▼ 2
63	Troy	4,564	▼ 4
64	Juan	4,428	▲ 3
65	Frank	4,364	▼ 4
66	Jeffery	4,364	▼ 2
67	Jesse	4,106	▲ 8
68	Jamie	4,086	▲ 2
69	Terry	4,026	▼ 4
70	Phillip	3,934	▲ 1
71	Carlos	3,871	▲ 3
72	Rodney	3,849	▼ 4
73	Marcus	3,802	▼ 1
74	Derek	3,636	▼ 5
75	Joel	3,492	▼ 2
76	Brent	3,413	▲ 4
77	Corey	3,381	▲ 12
78	Billy	3,366	▼ 2
79	Randy	3,342	–
80	Nicholas	3,218	▲ 4
81	Tony	3,216	▼ 3
82	Antonio	3,177	▲ 10
83	Johnny	3,169	▼ 1
84	Russell	3,168	▼ 7
85	Marc	3,108	▼ 4
86	Philip	2,969	▲ 5
87	Derrick	2,958	–
88	Jacob	2,958	▲ 34
89	Carl	2,895	▲ 1
90	Erik	2,881	▼ 4
91	Danny	2,861	▼ 8
92	Bobby	2,792	▲ 1
93	Roger	2,754	▼ 8
94	Jon	2,750	–
95	Brett	2,677	▼ 7
96	Victor	2,623	▲ 7
97	Kyle	2,599	▲ 13
98	Curtis	2,590	–
99	Jimmy	2,569	▼ 4
100	Lawrence	2,543	▲ 4

Top 100 girl names, 1974
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Jennifer	63,106	–
2	Amy	29,564	–
3	Michelle	25,828	–
4	Heather	23,180	▲ 4
5	Angela	22,803	▲ 2
6	Kimberly	22,427	▼ 2
7	Melissa	22,166	▼ 1
8	Lisa	19,777	▼ 3
9	Stephanie	16,983	–
10	Rebecca	15,165	–
11	Nicole	13,114	–
12	Elizabeth	12,263	▲ 1
13	Mary	11,739	▲ 1
14	Julie	11,360	▼ 2
15	Kelly	10,849	▲ 3
16	Christina	10,848	–
17	Jessica	10,655	▲ 17
18	Shannon	10,608	▲ 4
19	Christine	9,901	▼ 2
20	Sarah	9,790	▲ 15
21	Laura	9,716	▼ 2
22	Dawn	9,417	▼ 1
23	Tracy	9,285	▼ 3
24	Tammy	9,238	▼ 9
25	Tina	8,668	▼ 1
26	Karen	8,644	▼ 3
27	Susan	8,471	▼ 2
28	April	8,454	▲ 5
29	Patricia	8,036	▼ 2
30	Lori	7,960	▼ 2
31	Maria	7,804	–
32	Wendy	7,564	▼ 3
33	Cynthia	7,558	▼ 7
34	Amanda	7,473	▲ 17
35	Andrea	7,471	▼ 5
36	Rachel	7,399	▲ 6
37	Tonya	6,877	▼ 1
38	Stacy	6,741	▼ 6
39	Tara	6,656	▼ 2
40	Danielle	6,629	▲ 9
41	Tiffany	6,479	▲ 11
42	Carrie	6,437	▲ 4
43	Monica	6,281	▼ 3
44	Sandra	6,270	▼ 5
45	Kristen	6,053	▲ 13
46	Tanya	5,996	▲ 4
47	Erin	5,868	▲ 32
48	Stacey	5,803	▼ 7
49	Crystal	5,624	▼ 1
50	Michele	5,587	▼ 6
51	Melanie	5,483	▼ 8
52	Teresa	5,397	▼ 7
53	Denise	5,396	▼ 15
54	Pamela	5,272	▼ 7
55	Dana	5,159	▲ 4
56	Holly	5,144	▼ 2
57	Christy	5,067	▲ 16
58	Jill	5,060	▲ 4
59	Brenda	4,829	▼ 6
60	Heidi	4,683	▲ 5
61	Sara	4,651	▲ 28
62	Katherine	4,532	▲ 2
63	Robin	4,525	▼ 3
64	Tamara	4,525	▲ 2
65	Leslie	4,463	▲ 10
66	Misty	4,439	▲ 24
67	Donna	4,354	▼ 12
68	Deborah	4,343	▼ 12
69	Emily	4,330	▲ 30
70	Sharon	4,276	▼ 13
71	Veronica	4,226	–
72	Kristin	4,217	▲ 6
73	Catherine	4,183	▼ 6
74	Erica	4,121	▲ 7
75	Linda	4,077	▼ 14
76	Kathleen	3,953	▼ 8
77	Barbara	3,906	▼ 14
78	Nancy	3,891	▼ 1
79	Theresa	3,856	▼ 10
80	Brandy	3,832	▲ 2
81	Melinda	3,752	▼ 9
82	Anna	3,621	▲ 4
83	Jacqueline	3,573	▲ 5
84	Gina	3,560	▼ 1
85	Renee	3,528	▼ 5
86	Rhonda	3,525	▼ 16
87	Diana	3,513	▼ 2
88	Cheryl	3,497	▼ 14
89	Sherry	3,436	▼ 13
90	Alicia	3,435	▲ 1
91	Jodi	3,306	▲ 9
92	Amber	3,273	▲ 38
93	Valerie	3,182	▲ 3
94	Debra	3,129	▼ 10
95	Margaret	3,087	▼ 1
96	Paula	3,061	▼ 9
97	Jamie	3,020	▲ 6
98	Kathryn	2,991	▲ 9
99	Allison	2,959	▲ 6
100	Ann	2,928	▼ 7

Source: US Social Security Administration baby name data, 1974. Counts are Social Security card applications for US births; SSA leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies in a year. Updated 2026-10-05. How these numbers are made.