Popular names of 1973, and how old they are now

People born in 1973 turn 53 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 3 million births in 1973 under names it lists, and by our estimate about 91% of them are still alive: about 2.8 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).

8 names on AgeByName had their busiest year ever in 1973: Shane, Bridget, Jermaine, Gretchen, Kenya, Liza, Suzanna and Melonie.

Top girl names of 1973

Most popular girl names of 1973
#	Name	Born 1973	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Jennifer	62,448	58,000	46
2	Amy	26,962	25,000	47
3	Michelle	26,935	25,000	48
4	Kimberly	23,531	22,000	48
5	Lisa	22,677	21,000	56
6	Melissa	22,479	21,000	46
7	Angela	20,898	20,000	49
8	Heather	19,347	18,000	45
9	Stephanie	17,263	16,000	43
10	Rebecca	14,868	14,000	48
11	Nicole	13,922	13,000	39
12	Julie	12,785	12,000	55
13	Elizabeth	12,360	12,000	44
14	Mary	12,313	12,000	66
15	Tammy	11,244	11,000	58
16	Christina	10,888	10,000	44
17	Christine	10,549	9,900	57
18	Kelly	10,512	9,800	48
19	Laura	10,344	9,700	51
20	Tracy	9,913	9,300	55
21	Dawn	9,890	9,200	57
22	Shannon	9,802	9,200	46
23	Karen	9,352	8,700	63
24	Tina	9,307	8,700	56
25	Susan	9,279	8,700	66
26	Cynthia	8,743	8,200	60
27	Patricia	8,476	7,900	68
28	Lori	8,472	7,900	58
29	Wendy	7,810	7,300	55
30	Andrea	7,766	7,300	42
31	Maria	7,667	7,200	45
32	Stacy	7,338	6,900	50
33	April	7,264	6,800	45
34	Jessica	7,228	6,800	38
35	Sarah	7,214	6,700	39
36	Tonya	7,184	6,700	53
37	Tara	6,707	6,300	44
38	Denise	6,615	6,200	59
39	Sandra	6,585	6,200	66
40	Monica	6,380	6,000	46
41	Stacey	6,253	5,800	50
42	Rachel	6,103	5,700	38
43	Melanie	6,079	5,700	39
44	Michele	5,996	5,600	58
45	Teresa	5,986	5,600	59
46	Carrie	5,835	5,500	52
47	Pamela	5,813	5,400	64
48	Crystal	5,768	5,400	43
49	Danielle	5,648	5,300	38
50	Tanya	5,632	5,300	50

Top boy names of 1973

Most popular boy names of 1973
#	Name	Born 1973	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Michael	67,797	60,000	49
2	Christopher	48,313	43,000	41
3	Jason	46,683	42,000	42
4	James	42,836	38,000	54
5	David	41,082	37,000	52
6	John	39,165	35,000	55
7	Robert	38,698	34,000	58
8	Brian	35,686	32,000	48
9	William	28,018	25,000	51
10	Matthew	24,531	22,000	36
11	Daniel	23,672	21,000	42
12	Joseph	21,326	19,000	45
13	Eric	20,802	19,000	44
14	Kevin	20,768	19,000	45
15	Mark	20,367	18,000	56
16	Richard	19,942	18,000	60
17	Jeffrey	19,216	17,000	53
18	Scott	18,980	17,000	53
19	Thomas	17,921	16,000	53
20	Steven	17,175	15,000	52
21	Anthony	16,414	15,000	40
22	Timothy	16,036	14,000	50
23	Charles	15,752	14,000	54
24	Paul	12,901	11,000	57
25	Chad	12,886	11,000	45
26	Gregory	11,674	10,000	54
27	Shawn	11,451	10,000	45
28	Kenneth	10,979	9,800	57
29	Andrew	10,728	9,600	36
30	Ryan	10,511	9,400	33
31	Jonathan	10,273	9,200	35
32	Stephen	9,955	8,900	54
33	Jeremy	9,363	8,300	39
34	Aaron	9,232	8,200	34
35	Todd	8,677	7,700	54
36	Sean	8,553	7,600	38
37	Patrick	8,480	7,600	47
38	Donald	8,361	7,500	64
39	Edward	8,360	7,500	56
40	Ronald	8,327	7,400	64
41	Keith	8,165	7,300	54
42	Joshua	8,057	7,200	33
43	Bryan	7,110	6,300	39
44	Gary	6,851	6,100	65
45	Adam	6,842	6,100	35
46	George	6,601	5,900	57
47	Douglas	6,595	5,900	59
48	Craig	6,295	5,600	56
49	Jose	6,097	5,400	34
50	Larry	6,080	5,400	65

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 1973, 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 1973. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 1973 babies. How we calculate this