Popular names of 1974, and how old they are now

People born in 1974 turn 52 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 3 million births in 1974 under names it lists, and by our estimate about 92% 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).

12 names on AgeByName had their busiest year ever in 1974: Tanya, Kristie, Nakia, Latonya, Heath, Jolene, Christi, Jenifer, Chastity, Cornelius, Demond and Shanda.

Top girl names of 1974

Most popular girl names of 1974
#	Name	Born 1974	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Jennifer	63,107	59,000	46
2	Amy	29,566	28,000	47
3	Michelle	25,826	24,000	48
4	Heather	23,179	22,000	45
5	Angela	22,803	21,000	49
6	Kimberly	22,427	21,000	48
7	Melissa	22,166	21,000	46
8	Lisa	19,778	19,000	56
9	Stephanie	16,984	16,000	43
10	Rebecca	15,163	14,000	48
11	Nicole	13,112	12,000	39
12	Elizabeth	12,259	12,000	44
13	Mary	11,738	11,000	66
14	Julie	11,360	11,000	55
15	Kelly	10,851	10,000	48
16	Christina	10,849	10,000	44
17	Jessica	10,656	10,000	38
18	Shannon	10,608	10,000	46
19	Christine	9,901	9,300	57
20	Sarah	9,788	9,200	39
21	Laura	9,716	9,100	51
22	Dawn	9,417	8,800	57
23	Tracy	9,286	8,700	55
24	Tammy	9,238	8,700	58
25	Tina	8,668	8,100	56
26	Karen	8,643	8,100	63
27	Susan	8,470	8,000	66
28	April	8,454	7,900	45
29	Patricia	8,036	7,500	68
30	Lori	7,960	7,500	58
31	Maria	7,804	7,300	45
32	Wendy	7,564	7,100	55
33	Cynthia	7,557	7,100	60
34	Amanda	7,473	7,000	39
35	Andrea	7,472	7,000	42
36	Rachel	7,399	6,900	38
37	Tonya	6,878	6,500	53
38	Stacy	6,741	6,300	50
39	Tara	6,657	6,300	44
40	Danielle	6,629	6,200	38
41	Tiffany	6,482	6,100	40
42	Carrie	6,436	6,000	52
43	Monica	6,281	5,900	46
44	Sandra	6,270	5,900	66
45	Kristen	6,052	5,700	41
46	Tanya	5,997	5,600	50
47	Erin	5,868	5,500	39
48	Stacey	5,803	5,400	50
49	Crystal	5,622	5,300	43
50	Michele	5,587	5,200	58

Top boy names of 1974

Most popular boy names of 1974
#	Name	Born 1974	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Michael	67,534	61,000	49
2	Jason	54,756	49,000	42
3	Christopher	48,585	44,000	41
4	David	41,786	38,000	52
5	James	41,334	37,000	54
6	John	37,612	34,000	55
7	Robert	37,005	33,000	58
8	Brian	34,449	31,000	48
9	Matthew	27,194	24,000	36
10	William	26,980	24,000	51
11	Daniel	23,833	21,000	42
12	Joseph	21,834	20,000	45
13	Eric	20,193	18,000	44
14	Kevin	19,461	17,000	45
15	Jeffrey	19,320	17,000	53
16	Mark	18,905	17,000	56
17	Richard	18,636	17,000	60
18	Scott	18,030	16,000	53
19	Steven	17,663	16,000	52
20	Thomas	17,268	16,000	53
21	Anthony	16,391	15,000	40
22	Timothy	15,890	14,000	50
23	Charles	15,151	14,000	54
24	Jeremy	13,295	12,000	39
25	Ryan	13,179	12,000	33
26	Chad	12,788	11,000	45
27	Paul	12,310	11,000	57
28	Andrew	11,778	11,000	36
29	Joshua	11,599	10,000	33
30	Shawn	11,438	10,000	45
31	Gregory	10,826	9,700	54
32	Aaron	10,507	9,400	34
33	Jonathan	10,230	9,200	35
34	Kenneth	10,143	9,100	57
35	Stephen	10,101	9,100	54
36	Adam	8,421	7,600	35
37	Sean	8,290	7,400	38
38	Patrick	8,137	7,300	47
39	Todd	7,845	7,000	54
40	Edward	7,817	7,000	56
41	Donald	7,758	7,000	64
42	Ronald	7,667	6,900	64
43	Justin	7,429	6,700	34
44	Keith	7,390	6,600	54
45	Bryan	7,226	6,500	39
46	Benjamin	7,183	6,400	30
47	Jose	6,720	6,000	34
48	Gary	6,444	5,800	65
49	George	6,283	5,600	57
50	Peter	5,940	5,300	51

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 1974, 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 1974. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 1974 babies. How we calculate this