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The most popular baby names of 1972

SSA recorded 3,142,852 births in 1972 across all reported names — 1,521,244 girls and 1,621,608 boys.

Top 100 girls' names in 1972

Rank, births, and the change in rank against 1971.
#NameBirthsvs 1971
1 Jennifer 63,600 —
2 Michelle 29,285 —
3 Lisa 27,543 —
4 Kimberly 26,282 —
5 Amy 25,873 —
6 Angela 23,561 —
7 Melissa 22,494 —
8 Stephanie 16,890 +3
9 Heather 16,320 +3
10 Nicole 15,755 +17
11 Tammy 14,211 -3
12 Julie 14,062 -2
13 Mary 13,757 -4
14 Rebecca 13,252 +9
15 Elizabeth 12,182 +4
16 Christine 11,986 +2
17 Laura 11,778 -1
18 Tina 11,523 +2
19 Tracy 11,436 -6
20 Dawn 11,340 -6
21 Karen 11,181 -6
22 Shannon 10,965 -1
23 Kelly 10,944 -1
24 Susan 10,574 -7
25 Cynthia 10,173 -1
26 Christina 10,172 +4
27 Patricia 9,602 -1
28 Lori 9,434 -3
29 Wendy 8,529 —
30 Andrea 8,022 +5
31 Sandra 7,917 —
32 Maria 7,721 +5
33 Stacy 7,604 -1
34 Pamela 7,472 -6
35 Denise 7,382 +1
36 Michele 7,380 +3
37 Tonya 7,244 +8
38 Tara 7,234 +11
39 Teresa 7,176 -5
40 Rachel 6,417 +14
41 Stacey 6,380 —
42 Melanie 6,296 +24
43 Deborah 6,271 -10
44 Brenda 6,270 -1
45 Donna 6,257 -7
46 Jessica 6,206 +18
47 Monica 6,133 +1
48 April 6,120 +8
49 Sarah 6,114 +9
50 Sharon 6,111 -10
51 Linda 5,742 -9
52 Dana 5,610 -8
53 Carrie 5,421 +2
54 Tanya 5,402 +18
55 Robin 5,369 -4
56 Cheryl 5,136 -6
57 Kathleen 5,097 -4
58 Barbara 5,080 -11
59 Crystal 5,044 +20
60 Rhonda 5,001 -14
61 Tiffany 4,844 +1
62 Jill 4,824 -3
63 Nancy 4,818 -11
64 Heidi 4,723 +13
65 Catherine 4,686 —
66 Debra 4,666 -9
67 Kristin 4,586 +4
68 Theresa 4,569 -7
69 Katherine 4,514 -2
70 Sherry 4,447 -10
71 Holly 4,376 +5
72 Paula 4,260 -9
73 Danielle 4,201 +26
74 Christy 4,190 +15
75 Leslie 4,184 -7
76 Amanda 4,180 +8
77 Renee 4,088 -4
78 Gina 4,057 -9
79 Jacqueline 3,803 -4
80 Cindy 3,737 -10
81 Melinda 3,671 +4
82 Veronica 3,563 +28
83 Diana 3,548 -1
84 Tamara 3,531 -4
85 Kristen 3,527 +2
86 Anna 3,449 +20
87 Erica 3,443 +21
88 Tracey 3,407 -14
89 Yolanda 3,398 +9
90 Sheila 3,394 -9
91 Ann 3,360 -13
92 Suzanne 3,300 -4
93 Erin 3,289 —
94 Shelly 3,288 +9
95 Margaret 3,286 -9
96 Alicia 3,268 +9
97 Jodi 3,259 -3
98 Laurie 3,227 -2
99 Victoria 3,206 -2
100 Valerie 3,193 +2

Top 100 boys' names in 1972

Rank, births, and the change in rank against 1971.
#NameBirthsvs 1971
1 Michael 71,393 —
2 Christopher 52,172 +4
3 James 47,063 -1
4 David 46,322 -1
5 John 43,158 -1
6 Robert 43,013 -1
7 Jason 37,423 +1
8 Brian 36,306 +1
9 William 30,510 -2
10 Matthew 22,928 +9
11 Scott 22,838 -1
12 Joseph 22,454 +3
13 Kevin 22,354 +1
14 Richard 22,302 -3
15 Daniel 22,092 +5
16 Eric 22,027 +2
17 Jeffrey 21,677 -5
18 Mark 21,490 -5
19 Steven 19,851 -3
20 Thomas 19,557 -3
21 Timothy 17,605 —
22 Anthony 17,454 +1
23 Charles 16,968 -1
24 Paul 14,555 —
25 Chad 13,392 +4
26 Gregory 13,056 —
27 Kenneth 12,334 -2
28 Shawn 11,277 —
29 Stephen 11,037 -2
30 Andrew 10,111 +3
31 Todd 9,968 -1
32 Ronald 9,502 -1
33 Sean 9,444 +3
34 Edward 9,292 -2
35 Patrick 9,276 —
36 Donald 9,261 -2
37 Jonathan 9,219 +3
38 Keith 9,145 -1
39 Ryan 8,878 +12
40 Aaron 7,863 +1
41 Gary 7,758 -3
42 Jeremy 7,398 +3
43 Douglas 7,387 -4
44 George 7,167 -2
45 Bryan 7,035 +3
46 Craig 6,729 -3
47 Larry 6,604 -3
48 Peter 6,471 -1
49 Troy 6,348 -3
50 Jose 5,935 +5
51 Adam 5,740 +6
52 Dennis 5,608 -3
53 Jerry 5,597 -3
54 Raymond 5,443 -2
55 Shane 5,236 +5
56 Frank 5,165 -2
57 Travis 5,136 +4
58 Jeffery 5,063 -5
59 Joshua 5,033 +21
60 Justin 4,975 +43
61 Bradley 4,839 -3
62 Terry 4,770 -6
63 Brandon 4,625 +32
64 Benjamin 4,498 +5
65 Rodney 4,363 -6
66 Samuel 4,213 —
67 Derek 4,146 -4
68 Tony 4,001 -6
69 Russell 3,782 -5
70 Randy 3,739 -3
71 Marcus 3,685 -6
72 Jamie 3,680 +24
73 Juan 3,672 +8
74 Johnny 3,564 —
75 Phillip 3,532 +1
76 Roger 3,531 -5
77 Brent 3,530 -4
78 Joel 3,528 +8
79 Nathan 3,512 +25
80 Brett 3,503 +10
81 Billy 3,473 -6
82 Chris 3,472 -14
83 Marc 3,465 -13
84 Carlos 3,434 +4
85 Carl 3,406 -13
86 Erik 3,398 +11
87 Danny 3,306 -5
88 Jesse 3,226 +19
89 Jon 3,221 -11
90 Bobby 3,171 -11
91 Derrick 3,088 -7
92 Curtis 3,080 -4
93 Antonio 3,028 +17
94 Shannon 3,014 +12
95 Corey 2,990 -18
96 Christian 2,962 +26
97 Jimmy 2,932 -4
98 Walter 2,918 -7
99 Nicholas 2,843 +24
100 Joe 2,825 +1

Names that climbed fastest in 1972

Ranked by places gained against 1971, among names with at least 200 births in both years.

NameRank 1972Rank 1971Change
Brandy girls 140 353 +213
Tameka girls 523 722 +199
Brandi girls 141 330 +189
Casey girls 387 562 +175
Charity girls 371 536 +165
Tanisha girls 352 506 +154
Bryce boys 360 502 +142
Lamont boys 214 350 +136
Nikki girls 173 306 +133
Tamika girls 353 482 +129
Ivy girls 593 713 +120
Damian boys 298 417 +119
Latasha girls 327 444 +117
Nichole girls 146 262 +116
Gabriela girls 517 632 +115

Names that fell fastest in 1972

NameRank 1972Rank 1971Change
Geraldine girls 678 478 -200
Debora girls 700 583 -117
Kay girls 619 503 -116
Juliet girls 613 508 -105
Tiffani girls 635 530 -105
Janis girls 710 608 -102
Deidre girls 603 503 -100
Gladys girls 631 533 -98
Marlo girls 526 432 -94
Greta girls 670 576 -94
Rosemarie girls 591 500 -91
Bob boys 535 449 -86
Vance boys 526 445 -81
Rob boys 565 484 -81
Colette girls 597 520 -77

Names that first appear in 1972

1972 is the earliest year these names clear the SSA reporting threshold of five births.

Names that peaked in 1972

For these names, 1972 is the single biggest year in the whole 1880–2025 record.