Most popular baby names of 1976

In 1976, the most popular names for US babies were Michael for boys (66,917 babies, 4.3% of boys) and Jennifer for girls (59,472 babies, 4.1% of girls). The rest of the top five were Jason, Christopher, David and James for boys and Amy, Melissa, Heather and Angela for girls. SSA recorded 6,495 different boy names and 10,911 different girl names that year.

Top 100 boy names, 1976
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Michael	66,917	–
2	Jason	52,650	–
3	Christopher	45,194	–
4	David	39,273	▲ 1
5	James	38,298	▼ 1
6	John	33,979	▲ 1
7	Robert	33,791	▼ 1
8	Brian	30,524	–
9	Matthew	29,952	–
10	Daniel	24,704	▲ 1
11	William	24,433	▼ 1
12	Joseph	24,056	–
13	Eric	21,363	–
14	Jeremy	20,128	▲ 10
15	Kevin	18,476	–
16	Ryan	17,486	▲ 7
17	Jeffrey	17,014	▼ 3
18	Joshua	16,846	▲ 8
19	Richard	16,753	▼ 3
20	Steven	16,652	▼ 2
21	Timothy	16,621	▲ 1
22	Anthony	16,603	▼ 1
23	Thomas	16,122	▼ 3
24	Scott	15,719	▼ 7
25	Mark	15,511	▼ 6
26	Charles	13,923	▼ 1
27	Andrew	13,303	▲ 1
28	Paul	11,783	▲ 1
29	Chad	11,766	▼ 2
30	Aaron	11,345	▲ 2
31	Jonathan	11,315	▼ 1
32	Benjamin	10,672	▲ 4
33	Justin	10,146	▲ 4
34	Shawn	10,110	▼ 3
35	Gregory	10,061	▼ 2
36	Adam	9,939	▲ 2
37	Stephen	9,726	▼ 3
38	Kenneth	9,128	▼ 3
39	Nathan	8,609	▲ 6
40	Brandon	7,790	▲ 4
41	Patrick	7,642	▼ 2
42	Sean	7,565	▼ 2
43	Bryan	7,289	▲ 4
44	Jose	7,061	▲ 4
45	Edward	7,048	▼ 4
46	Travis	6,833	▲ 5
47	Donald	6,795	▼ 5
48	Keith	6,744	▲ 1
49	Ronald	6,459	▼ 3
50	Todd	6,441	▼ 7
51	Bradley	5,978	▲ 1
52	Gary	5,592	▼ 2
53	George	5,558	–
54	Peter	5,445	–
55	Jesse	5,301	▲ 9
56	Douglas	5,228	▼ 1
57	Shane	5,095	–
58	Juan	5,053	▲ 2
59	Samuel	5,026	▲ 2
60	Larry	4,841	▼ 4
61	Craig	4,732	▼ 3
62	Jamie	4,621	–
63	Jacob	4,509	▲ 12
64	Corey	4,433	▲ 7
65	Raymond	4,218	▼ 2
66	Dennis	4,169	▼ 7
67	Jerry	4,070	▼ 2
68	Frank	3,899	▼ 2
69	Phillip	3,790	▲ 3
70	Carlos	3,787	▲ 3
71	Antonio	3,774	▲ 6
72	Joel	3,725	▲ 2
73	Troy	3,715	▼ 4
74	Marcus	3,680	▼ 7
75	Terry	3,668	▼ 7
76	Jeffery	3,564	▼ 6
77	Nicholas	3,465	▲ 4
78	Brent	3,405	▲ 1
79	Randy	3,320	▼ 1
80	Kyle	3,309	▲ 8
81	Gabriel	3,303	▲ 25
82	Dustin	3,212	▲ 14
83	Cory	3,183	▲ 16
84	Derek	3,168	▼ 1
85	Billy	3,158	▼ 1
86	Tony	3,067	▼ 6
87	Russell	2,999	▼ 5
88	Rodney	2,984	▼ 12
89	Philip	2,943	▼ 4
90	Jared	2,930	▲ 10
91	Derrick	2,921	▼ 1
92	Johnny	2,874	▼ 6
93	Jeremiah	2,873	▲ 56
94	Erik	2,755	▼ 7
95	Carl	2,670	▼ 4
96	Zachary	2,646	▲ 49
97	Bobby	2,644	▼ 4
98	Shannon	2,611	▲ 3
99	Marc	2,598	▼ 10
100	Victor	2,527	▼ 5

Top 100 girl names, 1976
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Jennifer	59,472	–
2	Amy	31,339	–
3	Melissa	25,094	▲ 1
4	Heather	24,192	▼ 1
5	Angela	22,039	–
6	Michelle	19,551	–
7	Kimberly	18,962	–
8	Jessica	18,369	▲ 5
9	Lisa	17,348	▼ 1
10	Amanda	15,589	▲ 4
11	Stephanie	15,180	▼ 2
12	Rebecca	14,490	▼ 1
13	Nicole	14,452	▼ 3
14	Christina	14,035	▼ 2
15	Sarah	13,996	▲ 2
16	Elizabeth	13,546	▼ 1
17	Shannon	13,369	▲ 4
18	Jamie	12,538	▲ 50
19	Kelly	11,791	▼ 3
20	Laura	11,251	–
21	Julie	10,840	▼ 3
22	Mary	10,319	▼ 3
23	Rachel	8,454	▲ 3
24	Erin	8,383	▲ 14
25	Andrea	8,352	▲ 3
26	Christine	8,111	▼ 4
27	Sara	8,020	▲ 27
28	Carrie	7,991	▲ 1
29	Jaime	7,838	▲ 234
30	April	7,761	▼ 5
31	Karen	7,505	▼ 4
32	Tiffany	7,483	▲ 5
33	Danielle	7,364	▲ 9
34	Maria	7,358	▼ 4
35	Dawn	7,048	▼ 12
36	Crystal	6,947	▲ 7
37	Tracy	6,823	▼ 13
38	Stacy	6,524	▼ 4
39	Wendy	6,464	▼ 6
40	Susan	6,403	▼ 8
41	Tammy	6,228	▼ 10
42	Tara	6,020	▼ 1
43	Patricia	6,017	▼ 7
44	Cynthia	6,012	▼ 4
45	Monica	5,979	▲ 4
46	Misty	5,906	▲ 1
47	Lori	5,849	▼ 8
48	Tina	5,746	▼ 13
49	Amber	5,646	▲ 10
50	Emily	5,549	▼ 2
51	Stacey	5,391	▼ 7
52	Jill	5,283	▼ 6
53	Melanie	5,241	▼ 1
54	Erica	5,236	▲ 9
55	Brandy	5,232	▲ 2
56	Holly	5,173	▼ 1
57	Katherine	5,053	▲ 1
58	Tonya	4,965	▼ 13
59	Sandra	4,861	▼ 8
60	Christy	4,853	▼ 7
61	Tanya	4,819	▼ 11
62	Megan	4,464	▲ 7
63	Michele	4,443	▼ 7
64	Dana	4,408	▼ 2
65	Leslie	4,311	▲ 6
66	Teresa	4,056	▼ 5
67	Allison	4,028	▲ 22
68	Veronica	4,022	▲ 4
69	Denise	3,986	▼ 5
70	Heidi	3,890	▼ 4
71	Alicia	3,791	▲ 5
72	Catherine	3,779	▲ 1
73	Kristen	3,653	▼ 13
74	Kristin	3,627	–
75	Robin	3,623	▼ 10
76	Courtney	3,619	▲ 26
77	Brenda	3,587	▼ 10
78	Anna	3,585	▲ 1
79	Brandi	3,537	▲ 9
80	Natalie	3,500	▲ 30
81	Sharon	3,454	▼ 6
82	Kathleen	3,406	▼ 2
83	Valerie	3,386	▲ 9
84	Pamela	3,364	▼ 14
85	Samantha	3,348	▲ 16
86	Renee	3,314	▲ 1
87	Nancy	3,281	▼ 5
88	Kathryn	3,263	▲ 11
89	Theresa	3,174	▼ 11
90	Linda	3,138	▼ 9
91	Tamara	3,086	▼ 14
92	Victoria	3,038	▲ 13
93	Donna	3,032	▼ 8
94	Gina	3,010	▼ 10
95	Melinda	2,995	▼ 4
96	Deborah	2,992	▼ 10
97	Kristina	2,972	▲ 6
98	Barbara	2,968	▼ 15
99	Jacqueline	2,948	▼ 9
100	Mandy	2,924	▲ 6

Source: US Social Security Administration baby name data, 1976. 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.