Most popular baby names of 1977

In 1977, the most popular names for US babies were Michael for boys (67,588 babies, 4.1% of boys) and Jennifer for girls (58,964 babies, 3.8% of girls). The rest of the top five were Jason, Christopher, David and James for boys and Melissa, Amy, Jessica and Heather for girls. SSA recorded 6,860 different boy names and 11,330 different girl names that year.

Top 100 boy names, 1977
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Michael	67,588	–
2	Jason	55,636	–
3	Christopher	46,725	–
4	David	40,516	–
5	James	40,043	–
6	Robert	34,217	▲ 1
7	John	34,199	▼ 1
8	Brian	32,494	–
9	Matthew	31,967	–
10	Joseph	26,485	▲ 2
11	Daniel	26,074	▼ 1
12	William	24,757	▼ 1
13	Kevin	22,461	▲ 2
14	Joshua	22,069	▲ 4
15	Jeremy	21,611	▼ 1
16	Ryan	21,249	–
17	Eric	20,745	▼ 4
18	Timothy	17,976	▲ 3
19	Jeffrey	17,479	▼ 2
20	Richard	17,442	▼ 1
21	Anthony	16,804	▲ 1
22	Thomas	16,591	▲ 1
23	Steven	16,489	▼ 3
24	Andrew	16,018	▲ 3
25	Mark	15,419	–
26	Charles	14,743	–
27	Scott	14,207	▼ 3
28	Jonathan	12,322	▲ 3
29	Benjamin	12,107	▲ 3
30	Justin	12,010	▲ 3
31	Paul	11,799	▼ 3
32	Aaron	11,631	▼ 2
33	Adam	11,031	▲ 3
34	Chad	10,831	▼ 5
35	Gregory	10,053	–
36	Nathan	9,888	▲ 3
37	Shawn	9,865	▼ 3
38	Stephen	9,636	▼ 1
39	Kenneth	9,453	▼ 1
40	Patrick	8,306	▲ 1
41	Brandon	8,272	▼ 1
42	Bryan	7,886	▲ 1
43	Sean	7,627	▼ 1
44	Travis	7,277	▲ 2
45	Jose	6,918	▼ 1
46	Donald	6,866	▲ 1
47	Edward	6,840	▼ 2
48	Keith	6,598	–
49	Bradley	6,431	▲ 2
50	Todd	6,278	–
51	Nicholas	6,073	▲ 26
52	Corey	6,040	▲ 12
53	Ronald	6,026	▼ 4
54	Jesse	5,823	▲ 1
55	Peter	5,823	▼ 1
56	Jacob	5,789	▲ 7
57	George	5,605	▼ 4
58	Gary	5,447	▼ 6
59	Douglas	5,297	▼ 3
60	Samuel	5,259	▼ 1
61	Shane	4,868	▼ 4
62	Larry	4,838	▼ 2
63	Juan	4,563	▼ 5
64	Craig	4,561	▼ 3
65	Raymond	4,377	–
66	Wesley	4,301	▲ 53
67	Cory	4,257	▲ 16
68	Dennis	4,152	▼ 2
69	Jeremiah	4,151	▲ 24
70	Phillip	3,966	▼ 1
71	Frank	3,895	▼ 3
72	Marcus	3,847	▲ 2
73	Joel	3,823	▼ 1
74	Carlos	3,794	▼ 4
75	Jerry	3,745	▼ 8
76	Jared	3,737	▲ 14
77	Antonio	3,663	▼ 6
78	Jeffery	3,564	▼ 2
79	Kyle	3,506	▲ 1
80	Derrick	3,482	▲ 11
81	Dustin	3,477	▲ 1
82	Jamie	3,447	▼ 20
83	Terry	3,443	▼ 8
84	Derek	3,442	–
85	Brent	3,423	▼ 7
86	Randy	3,397	▼ 7
87	Gabriel	3,346	▼ 6
88	Troy	3,306	▼ 15
89	Russell	3,124	▼ 2
90	Philip	3,092	▼ 1
91	Billy	2,951	▼ 6
92	Tony	2,939	▼ 6
93	Johnny	2,801	▼ 1
94	Erik	2,786	–
95	Zachary	2,777	▲ 1
96	Alexander	2,703	▲ 11
97	Rodney	2,703	▼ 9
98	Jimmy	2,636	▲ 3
99	Carl	2,615	▼ 4
100	Curtis	2,606	▲ 5

Top 100 girl names, 1977
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Jennifer	58,964	–
2	Melissa	26,880	▲ 1
3	Amy	26,730	▼ 1
4	Jessica	24,845	▲ 4
5	Heather	23,773	▼ 1
6	Angela	20,999	▼ 1
7	Michelle	19,540	▼ 1
8	Kimberly	18,285	▼ 1
9	Amanda	18,280	▲ 1
10	Kelly	18,234	▲ 9
11	Sarah	18,096	▲ 4
12	Lisa	17,013	▼ 3
13	Elizabeth	16,431	▲ 3
14	Stephanie	15,417	▼ 3
15	Nicole	15,247	▼ 2
16	Christina	14,500	▼ 2
17	Rebecca	14,196	▼ 5
18	Jamie	12,895	–
19	Shannon	12,519	▼ 2
20	Laura	11,320	–
21	Mary	10,654	▲ 1
22	Julie	10,205	▼ 1
23	Erin	10,198	▲ 1
24	Andrea	9,783	▲ 1
25	Crystal	9,725	▲ 11
26	Rachel	8,975	▼ 3
27	Sara	8,709	–
28	Carrie	8,661	–
29	April	8,068	▲ 1
30	Christine	7,887	▼ 4
31	Danielle	7,616	▲ 2
32	Karen	7,441	▼ 1
33	Amber	7,207	▲ 16
34	Tiffany	7,206	▼ 2
35	Tara	7,198	▲ 7
36	Maria	7,093	▼ 2
37	Emily	6,879	▲ 13
38	Erica	6,623	▲ 16
39	Monica	6,366	▲ 6
40	Misty	6,315	▲ 6
41	Jill	6,238	▲ 11
42	Stacy	6,154	▼ 4
43	Dawn	6,096	▼ 8
44	Katherine	6,030	▲ 13
45	Susan	5,960	▼ 5
46	Jaime	5,906	▼ 17
47	Patricia	5,904	▼ 4
48	Cynthia	5,782	▼ 4
49	Wendy	5,764	▼ 10
50	Tracy	5,756	▼ 13
51	Brandy	5,477	▲ 4
52	Holly	5,464	▲ 4
53	Melanie	5,373	–
54	Megan	5,320	▲ 8
55	Tammy	5,310	▼ 14
56	Stacey	5,206	▼ 5
57	Lori	5,072	▼ 10
58	Tina	4,951	▼ 10
59	Christy	4,602	▲ 1
60	Alicia	4,400	▲ 11
61	Sandra	4,372	▼ 2
62	Dana	4,339	▲ 2
63	Sabrina	4,305	▲ 83
64	Tonya	4,264	▼ 6
65	Leslie	4,250	–
66	Allison	4,205	▲ 1
67	Tanya	4,085	▼ 6
68	Kristy	4,045	▲ 45
69	Natalie	4,043	▲ 11
70	Kathryn	3,965	▲ 18
71	Brandi	3,884	▲ 8
72	Kristen	3,861	▲ 1
73	Anna	3,852	▲ 5
74	Veronica	3,852	▼ 6
75	Catherine	3,841	▼ 3
76	Courtney	3,808	–
77	Michele	3,711	▼ 14
78	Denise	3,681	▼ 9
79	Teresa	3,655	▼ 13
80	Kathleen	3,649	▲ 2
81	Heidi	3,640	▼ 11
82	Kristin	3,605	▼ 8
83	Kristina	3,539	▲ 14
84	Robin	3,429	▼ 9
85	Samantha	3,286	–
86	Valerie	3,265	▼ 3
87	Renee	3,259	▼ 1
88	Gina	3,230	▲ 6
89	Nancy	3,220	▼ 2
90	Vanessa	3,209	▲ 16
91	Brenda	3,151	▼ 14
92	Jacqueline	3,148	▲ 7
93	Tamara	3,126	▼ 2
94	Mandy	3,100	▲ 6
95	Sharon	3,089	▼ 14
96	Melinda	3,044	▼ 1
97	Beth	2,968	▲ 17
98	Theresa	2,914	▼ 9
99	Linda	2,912	▼ 9
100	Barbara	2,845	▼ 2

Source: US Social Security Administration baby name data, 1977. 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.