Popular names of 1972, and how old they are now

People born in 1972 turn 54 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 3.1 million births in 1972 under names it lists, and by our estimate about 91% of them are still alive: about 2.9 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 1972: Jennifer, Brian, Chad, Tonya, Tara, Melanie, Heidi, Katina, Nikki, Lamont, Marlon and Latanya.

Top girl names of 1972

Most popular girl names of 1972
#	Name	Born 1972	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Jennifer	63,600	59,000	46
2	Michelle	29,285	27,000	48
3	Lisa	27,543	26,000	56
4	Kimberly	26,282	24,000	48
5	Amy	25,873	24,000	47
6	Angela	23,561	22,000	49
7	Melissa	22,494	21,000	46
8	Stephanie	16,890	16,000	43
9	Heather	16,320	15,000	45
10	Nicole	15,755	15,000	39
11	Tammy	14,211	13,000	58
12	Julie	14,062	13,000	55
13	Mary	13,757	13,000	66
14	Rebecca	13,252	12,000	48
15	Elizabeth	12,182	11,000	44
16	Christine	11,986	11,000	57
17	Laura	11,778	11,000	51
18	Tina	11,523	11,000	56
19	Tracy	11,436	11,000	55
20	Dawn	11,340	11,000	57
21	Karen	11,181	10,000	63
22	Shannon	10,965	10,000	46
23	Kelly	10,944	10,000	48
24	Susan	10,574	9,800	66
25	Cynthia	10,173	9,500	60
26	Christina	10,172	9,500	44
27	Patricia	9,602	8,900	68
28	Lori	9,434	8,800	58
29	Wendy	8,529	7,900	55
30	Andrea	8,022	7,500	42
31	Sandra	7,917	7,400	66
32	Maria	7,721	7,200	45
33	Stacy	7,604	7,100	50
34	Pamela	7,472	7,000	64
35	Denise	7,382	6,900	59
36	Michele	7,380	6,900	58
37	Tonya	7,244	6,700	53
38	Tara	7,234	6,700	44
39	Teresa	7,176	6,700	59
40	Rachel	6,417	6,000	38
41	Stacey	6,380	5,900	50
42	Melanie	6,296	5,900	39
43	Deborah	6,271	5,800	66
44	Brenda	6,270	5,800	63
45	Donna	6,257	5,800	68
46	Jessica	6,206	5,800	38
47	Monica	6,133	5,700	46
48	April	6,120	5,700	45
49	Sarah	6,114	5,700	39
50	Sharon	6,111	5,700	68

Top boy names of 1972

Most popular boy names of 1972
#	Name	Born 1972	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Michael	71,393	63,000	49
2	Christopher	52,172	46,000	41
3	James	47,063	42,000	54
4	David	46,322	41,000	52
5	John	43,158	38,000	55
6	Robert	43,013	38,000	58
7	Jason	37,423	33,000	42
8	Brian	36,306	32,000	48
9	William	30,510	27,000	51
10	Matthew	22,928	20,000	36
11	Scott	22,838	20,000	53
12	Joseph	22,454	20,000	45
13	Kevin	22,354	20,000	45
14	Richard	22,302	20,000	60
15	Daniel	22,092	20,000	42
16	Eric	22,027	19,000	44
17	Jeffrey	21,677	19,000	53
18	Mark	21,490	19,000	56
19	Steven	19,851	18,000	52
20	Thomas	19,557	17,000	53
21	Timothy	17,605	16,000	50
22	Anthony	17,454	15,000	40
23	Charles	16,968	15,000	54
24	Paul	14,555	13,000	57
25	Chad	13,392	12,000	45
26	Gregory	13,056	12,000	54
27	Kenneth	12,334	11,000	57
28	Shawn	11,277	10,000	45
29	Stephen	11,037	9,800	54
30	Andrew	10,111	8,900	36
31	Todd	9,968	8,800	54
32	Ronald	9,502	8,400	64
33	Sean	9,444	8,400	38
34	Edward	9,292	8,200	56
35	Patrick	9,276	8,200	47
36	Donald	9,261	8,200	64
37	Jonathan	9,219	8,200	35
38	Keith	9,145	8,100	54
39	Ryan	8,878	7,900	33
40	Aaron	7,863	7,000	34
41	Gary	7,758	6,900	65
42	Jeremy	7,398	6,500	39
43	Douglas	7,387	6,500	59
44	George	7,167	6,300	57
45	Bryan	7,035	6,200	39
46	Craig	6,729	6,000	56
47	Larry	6,604	5,800	65
48	Peter	6,471	5,700	51
49	Troy	6,348	5,600	46
50	Jose	5,935	5,300	34

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 1972, 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 1972. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 1972 babies. How we calculate this