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The most popular baby names of 1971

SSA recorded 3,432,270 births in 1971 across all reported names — 1,663,823 girls and 1,768,447 boys.

Top 100 girls' names in 1971

Rank, births, and the change in rank against 1970.
#NameBirthsvs 1970
1 Jennifer 56,771 —
2 Michelle 33,160 +2
3 Lisa 32,907 -1
4 Kimberly 30,708 -1
5 Amy 26,237 —
6 Angela 25,901 —
7 Melissa 23,875 —
8 Tammy 17,656 —
9 Mary 16,703 —
10 Julie 15,322 +1
11 Stephanie 15,135 +6
12 Heather 15,017 +7
13 Tracy 14,330 -3
14 Dawn 14,288 +2
15 Karen 14,214 -3
16 Laura 13,875 -3
17 Susan 13,782 -2
18 Christine 13,678 -4
19 Elizabeth 13,606 -1
20 Tina 13,266 +1
21 Shannon 12,647 +1
22 Kelly 12,599 -2
23 Rebecca 12,192 +6
24 Cynthia 12,143 +1
25 Lori 11,829 -2
26 Patricia 11,470 -2
27 Nicole 10,423 +3
28 Pamela 10,149 -2
29 Wendy 10,063 -1
30 Christina 9,915 +5
31 Sandra 9,714 -4
32 Stacy 9,117 +10
33 Deborah 8,675 —
34 Teresa 8,563 —
35 Andrea 8,483 +8
36 Denise 8,219 —
37 Maria 8,141 +2
38 Donna 8,013 -6
39 Michele 7,955 -8
40 Sharon 7,523 -3
41 Stacey 7,482 +7
42 Linda 7,376 -4
43 Brenda 7,160 -3
44 Dana 6,934 +10
45 Tonya 6,897 +4
46 Rhonda 6,649 —
47 Barbara 6,453 -6
48 Monica 6,426 +8
49 Tara 6,336 +20
50 Cheryl 6,327 -6
51 Robin 6,213 —
52 Nancy 6,212 -2
53 Kathleen 6,154 -8
54 Rachel 6,115 +4
55 Carrie 5,977 +18
56 April 5,939 +26
57 Debra 5,928 -10
58 Sarah 5,843 +7
59 Jill 5,724 -7
60 Sherry 5,562 —
61 Theresa 5,446 -8
62 Tiffany 5,414 +37
63 Paula 5,379 -6
64 Jessica 5,359 +34
65 Catherine 5,337 -6
66 Melanie 5,135 +25
67 Katherine 5,120 —
68 Leslie 5,111 -4
69 Gina 4,922 -8
70 Cindy 4,904 +2
71 Kristin 4,861 -8
72 Tanya 4,855 +4
73 Renee 4,830 -5
74 Tracey 4,789 -19
75 Jacqueline 4,784 -9
76 Holly 4,747 -2
77 Heidi 4,714 +4
78 Ann 4,558 -16
79 Crystal 4,530 +22
80 Tamara 4,486 -1
81 Sheila 4,333 -6
82 Diana 4,211 +7
83 Diane 4,208 -13
84 Amanda 4,130 +24
85 Melinda 4,057 +8
86 Margaret 4,001 -6
87 Kristen 3,967 -4
88 Suzanne 3,932 -1
89 Christy 3,930 +16
90 Regina 3,874 -4
91 Kathy 3,863 -14
92 Carol 3,857 -21
93 Erin 3,856 +18
94 Jodi 3,826 +1
95 Deanna 3,791 -5
96 Laurie 3,749 -8
97 Victoria 3,722 -12
98 Yolanda 3,721 +8
99 Danielle 3,716 +15
100 Beth 3,686 -8

Top 100 boys' names in 1971

Rank, births, and the change in rank against 1970.
#NameBirthsvs 1970
1 Michael 77,577 —
2 James 54,597 —
3 David 53,113 —
4 John 51,512 —
5 Robert 50,634 —
6 Christopher 48,225 —
7 William 35,413 —
8 Jason 34,173 +5
9 Brian 32,624 -1
10 Scott 30,901 +2
11 Richard 26,154 -1
12 Jeffrey 25,834 -1
13 Mark 25,132 -4
14 Kevin 24,850 —
15 Joseph 24,517 +1
16 Steven 23,686 -1
17 Thomas 23,149 —
18 Eric 22,962 —
19 Matthew 22,543 +5
20 Daniel 21,785 -1
21 Timothy 20,089 -1
22 Charles 19,851 -1
23 Anthony 19,223 -1
24 Paul 17,469 -1
25 Kenneth 14,763 —
26 Gregory 14,760 —
27 Stephen 13,102 —
28 Shawn 12,825 +6
29 Chad 12,137 +22
30 Todd 12,055 -2
31 Ronald 11,617 -2
32 Edward 11,062 -1
33 Andrew 10,911 -1
34 Donald 10,872 -4
35 Patrick 10,808 -2
36 Sean 10,510 +1
37 Keith 9,851 +1
38 Gary 9,190 -3
39 Douglas 8,737 -3
40 Jonathan 8,628 +2
41 Aaron 8,403 +11
42 George 8,226 -2
43 Craig 7,957 -4
44 Larry 7,763 -1
45 Jeremy 7,498 +25
46 Troy 7,340 -5
47 Peter 7,025 -3
48 Bryan 6,611 +5
49 Dennis 6,584 -3
50 Jerry 6,572 -5
51 Ryan 6,184 +89
52 Raymond 6,104 -3
53 Jeffery 6,100 -3
54 Frank 6,089 -6
55 Jose 6,004 +1
56 Terry 5,858 -2
57 Adam 5,846 +15
58 Bradley 5,780 -11
59 Rodney 5,195 -4
60 Shane 5,093 +4
61 Travis 5,016 +8
62 Tony 4,889 -5
63 Derek 4,667 +14
64 Russell 4,545 -6
65 Marcus 4,410 +6
66 Samuel 4,407 -4
67 Randy 4,345 -8
68 Chris 4,293 -5
69 Benjamin 4,251 +12
70 Marc 4,212 -10
71 Roger 4,129 -10
72 Carl 4,055 -6
73 Brent 4,053 +1
74 Johnny 3,939 -9
75 Billy 3,907 +3
76 Phillip 3,850 -3
77 Corey 3,766 +7
78 Jon 3,717 -10
79 Bobby 3,652 +8
80 Joshua 3,650 +70
81 Juan 3,648 +14
82 Danny 3,611 +3
83 Gerald 3,588 -16
84 Derrick 3,582 +12
85 Lawrence 3,523 -2
86 Joel 3,499 -4
87 Vincent 3,435 -8
88 Carlos 3,426 +10
88 Curtis 3,426 —
90 Brett 3,357 +9
91 Walter 3,356 -2
92 Wayne 3,331 -12
93 Jimmy 3,315 -7
94 Philip 3,302 -2
95 Brandon 3,263 +36
96 Jamie 3,231 +29
97 Erik 3,212 +4
98 Lance 3,175 -22
99 Alan 3,168 -8
100 Darren 3,156 -25

Names that climbed fastest in 1971

Ranked by places gained against 1970, among names with at least 200 births in both years.

NameRank 1971Rank 1970Change
Latasha girls 444 722 +278
Tisha girls 311 500 +189
Tamika girls 482 635 +153
Kisha girls 559 702 +143
Terra girls 488 618 +130
Selena girls 465 591 +126
Kendrick boys 415 541 +126
Natasha girls 229 350 +121
Chrystal girls 563 683 +120
Scotty boys 210 330 +120
Tasha girls 281 399 +118
Lashonda girls 601 719 +118
Tawana girls 574 684 +110
Shelby girls 393 499 +106
Marcie girls 325 429 +104

Names that fell fastest in 1971

NameRank 1971Rank 1970Change
Penelope girls 733 571 -162
Joelle girls 722 584 -138
Pam girls 673 560 -113
Josette girls 698 588 -110
Shanon girls 718 609 -109
Juli girls 698 600 -98
Vonda girls 709 612 -97
Chris girls 555 460 -95
Rory boys 573 481 -92
Sharron girls 735 644 -91
Tod boys 568 477 -91
Benita girls 695 606 -89
Leona girls 698 609 -89
Alana girls 738 651 -87
Kris girls 556 470 -86

Names that first appear in 1971

1971 is the earliest year these names clear the SSA reporting threshold of five births.

Names that peaked in 1971

For these names, 1971 is the single biggest year in the whole 1880–2025 record.