Popular names of 1970, and how old they are now

People born in 1970 turn 56 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 3.6 million births in 1970 under names it lists, and by our estimate about 90% of them are still alive: about 3.2 million people.

The year's top names were Jennifer for girls and Michael for boys. Babies born that year are Gen Xers (see Gen X names).

12 names on AgeByName had their busiest year ever in 1970: Kimberly, Eric, Tracy, Shannon, Dawn, Troy, Tracey, Marc, Tamara, Deanna, Brent and Melinda.

Top girl names of 1970

Most popular girl names of 1970
#	Name	Born 1970	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Jennifer	46,150	42,000	46
2	Lisa	38,967	36,000	56
3	Kimberly	34,130	31,000	48
4	Michelle	34,047	31,000	48
5	Amy	25,212	23,000	47
6	Angela	24,929	23,000	49
7	Melissa	23,735	22,000	46
8	Tammy	19,587	18,000	58
9	Mary	19,204	18,000	66
10	Tracy	18,464	17,000	55
11	Julie	17,158	16,000	55
12	Karen	16,699	15,000	63
13	Laura	16,490	15,000	51
14	Christine	16,061	15,000	57
15	Susan	15,738	14,000	66
16	Dawn	15,681	14,000	57
17	Stephanie	15,387	14,000	43
18	Elizabeth	15,108	14,000	44
19	Heather	14,669	14,000	45
20	Kelly	14,607	13,000	48
21	Tina	13,861	13,000	56
22	Shannon	13,547	12,000	46
23	Lori	13,448	12,000	58
24	Patricia	13,406	12,000	68
25	Cynthia	12,913	12,000	60
26	Pamela	12,907	12,000	64
27	Sandra	11,246	10,000	66
28	Wendy	11,100	10,000	55
29	Rebecca	10,854	10,000	48
30	Nicole	10,691	9,800	39
31	Michele	10,090	9,300	58
32	Donna	9,968	9,200	68
33	Deborah	9,845	9,100	66
34	Teresa	9,612	8,800	59
35	Christina	9,588	8,800	44
36	Denise	9,343	8,600	59
37	Sharon	9,177	8,400	68
38	Linda	8,731	8,000	70
39	Maria	8,686	8,000	45
40	Brenda	8,336	7,700	63
41	Barbara	8,026	7,400	72
42	Stacy	7,771	7,200	50
43	Andrea	7,708	7,100	42
44	Cheryl	7,440	6,800	65
45	Kathleen	7,410	6,800	64
46	Rhonda	7,379	6,800	61
47	Debra	7,198	6,600	66
48	Stacey	7,154	6,600	50
49	Tonya	7,140	6,600	53
50	Nancy	7,063	6,500	68

Top boy names of 1970

Most popular boy names of 1970
#	Name	Born 1970	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Michael	85,266	74,000	49
2	James	61,735	54,000	54
3	David	61,728	54,000	52
4	John	58,491	51,000	55
5	Robert	57,177	50,000	58
6	Christopher	41,747	36,000	41
7	William	38,887	34,000	51
8	Brian	31,917	28,000	48
9	Mark	31,461	27,000	56
10	Richard	30,442	27,000	60
11	Jeffrey	30,139	26,000	53
12	Scott	28,565	25,000	53
13	Jason	27,272	24,000	42
14	Kevin	26,968	23,000	45
15	Steven	26,793	23,000	52
16	Joseph	26,714	23,000	45
17	Thomas	26,669	23,000	53
18	Eric	23,571	21,000	44
19	Daniel	23,521	20,000	42
20	Timothy	22,422	20,000	50
21	Charles	22,411	20,000	54
22	Anthony	21,176	18,000	40
23	Paul	20,196	18,000	57
24	Matthew	20,185	18,000	36
25	Kenneth	16,800	15,000	57
26	Gregory	16,286	14,000	54
27	Stephen	14,758	13,000	54
28	Todd	14,426	13,000	54
29	Ronald	13,618	12,000	64
30	Donald	12,397	11,000	64
31	Edward	12,275	11,000	56
32	Andrew	11,989	10,000	36
33	Patrick	11,730	10,000	47
34	Shawn	10,945	9,500	45
35	Gary	10,716	9,300	65
36	Douglas	10,409	9,100	59
37	Sean	10,341	9,000	38
38	Keith	9,615	8,400	54
39	Craig	9,364	8,200	56
40	George	8,911	7,800	57
41	Troy	8,448	7,400	46
42	Jonathan	8,194	7,100	35
43	Larry	8,104	7,100	65
44	Peter	8,056	7,000	51
45	Jerry	7,422	6,500	63
46	Dennis	7,312	6,400	63
47	Bradley	6,818	5,900	42
48	Frank	6,805	5,900	59
49	Raymond	6,788	5,900	56
50	Jeffery	6,701	5,800	54

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 1970, from Social Security's records. “Alive today” estimates how many of them are still living, using SSA's cohort life tables for people born in 1970. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 1970 babies. How we calculate this