Popular names of 1971, and how old they are now

People born in 1971 turn 55 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 3.4 million births in 1971 under names it lists, and by our estimate about 90% of them are still alive: about 3.1 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 1971: Scott, Angela, Shawn, Stacy, Dana, Stacey, Tricia, Kristi, Stacie, Ginger, Tonia and Staci.

Top girl names of 1971

Most popular girl names of 1971
#	Name	Born 1971	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Jennifer	56,771	53,000	46
2	Michelle	33,160	31,000	48
3	Lisa	32,907	30,000	56
4	Kimberly	30,708	28,000	48
5	Amy	26,237	24,000	47
6	Angela	25,901	24,000	49
7	Melissa	23,875	22,000	46
8	Tammy	17,656	16,000	58
9	Mary	16,703	15,000	66
10	Julie	15,322	14,000	55
11	Stephanie	15,135	14,000	43
12	Heather	15,017	14,000	45
13	Tracy	14,330	13,000	55
14	Dawn	14,288	13,000	57
15	Karen	14,214	13,000	63
16	Laura	13,875	13,000	51
17	Susan	13,782	13,000	66
18	Christine	13,678	13,000	57
19	Elizabeth	13,606	13,000	44
20	Tina	13,266	12,000	56
21	Shannon	12,647	12,000	46
22	Kelly	12,599	12,000	48
23	Rebecca	12,192	11,000	48
24	Cynthia	12,143	11,000	60
25	Lori	11,829	11,000	58
26	Patricia	11,470	11,000	68
27	Nicole	10,423	9,700	39
28	Pamela	10,149	9,400	64
29	Wendy	10,063	9,300	55
30	Christina	9,915	9,200	44
31	Sandra	9,714	9,000	66
32	Stacy	9,117	8,400	50
33	Deborah	8,675	8,000	66
34	Teresa	8,563	7,900	59
35	Andrea	8,483	7,900	42
36	Denise	8,219	7,600	59
37	Maria	8,141	7,500	45
38	Donna	8,013	7,400	68
39	Michele	7,955	7,400	58
40	Sharon	7,523	7,000	68
41	Stacey	7,482	6,900	50
42	Linda	7,376	6,800	70
43	Brenda	7,160	6,600	63
44	Dana	6,934	6,400	51
45	Tonya	6,897	6,400	53
46	Rhonda	6,649	6,200	61
47	Barbara	6,453	6,000	72
48	Monica	6,426	6,000	46
49	Tara	6,336	5,900	44
50	Cheryl	6,327	5,900	65

Top boy names of 1971

Most popular boy names of 1971
#	Name	Born 1971	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Michael	77,577	68,000	49
2	James	54,597	48,000	54
3	David	53,113	47,000	52
4	John	51,512	45,000	55
5	Robert	50,634	44,000	58
6	Christopher	48,225	42,000	41
7	William	35,413	31,000	51
8	Jason	34,173	30,000	42
9	Brian	32,624	29,000	48
10	Scott	30,901	27,000	53
11	Richard	26,154	23,000	60
12	Jeffrey	25,834	23,000	53
13	Mark	25,132	22,000	56
14	Kevin	24,850	22,000	45
15	Joseph	24,517	22,000	45
16	Steven	23,686	21,000	52
17	Thomas	23,149	20,000	53
18	Eric	22,962	20,000	44
19	Matthew	22,543	20,000	36
20	Daniel	21,785	19,000	42
21	Timothy	20,089	18,000	50
22	Charles	19,851	17,000	54
23	Anthony	19,223	17,000	40
24	Paul	17,469	15,000	57
25	Kenneth	14,763	13,000	57
26	Gregory	14,760	13,000	54
27	Stephen	13,102	12,000	54
28	Shawn	12,825	11,000	45
29	Chad	12,137	11,000	45
30	Todd	12,055	11,000	54
31	Ronald	11,617	10,000	64
32	Edward	11,062	9,700	56
33	Andrew	10,911	9,600	36
34	Donald	10,872	9,600	64
35	Patrick	10,808	9,500	47
36	Sean	10,510	9,200	38
37	Keith	9,851	8,700	54
38	Gary	9,190	8,100	65
39	Douglas	8,737	7,700	59
40	Jonathan	8,628	7,600	35
41	Aaron	8,403	7,400	34
42	George	8,226	7,200	57
43	Craig	7,957	7,000	56
44	Larry	7,763	6,800	65
45	Jeremy	7,498	6,600	39
46	Troy	7,340	6,500	46
47	Peter	7,025	6,200	51
48	Bryan	6,611	5,800	39
49	Dennis	6,584	5,800	63
50	Jerry	6,572	5,800	63

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 1971, 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 1971. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 1971 babies. How we calculate this