Most popular baby names of 1974

The top three baby names showed remarkable stability between 1973 and 1974 in the United States. For girls, Jennifer maintained its reign at #1, followed by Amy and Michelle in both years, showing American parents' consistent preferences. Boys' names showed a slight shift, with Michael holding strong at #1, but Jason moved up from #3 to claim the #2 spot, pushing Christopher down one position to #3. This subtle shift suggests Jason was gaining momentum as the decade progressed.

Looking deeper into the top 10 girls' names of 1974, traditional feminine choices continued to dominate American nurseries. Jennifer, Amy, Michelle, Heather, and Angela formed a strong top five, with Heather making a notable climb from #8 in 1973 to #4 in 1974. Angela also showed impressive movement, rising from #7 to #5. Interestingly, Lisa dropped significantly from #5 to #8, suggesting its peak popularity was beginning to wane. The "-a" ending remained prominent in the top 10 with Angela, Melissa, and Stephanie all featuring.

For boys, traditional masculine names maintained their dominance in the top 10. Michael, Jason, Christopher, David, and James formed the solid top five in 1974. Matthew showed the most significant improvement, climbing from #10 to #9, while William moved down one spot from #9 to #10. The top 10 boys' names demonstrated remarkable consistency, with no newcomers breaking into this elite group between 1973 and 1974. This stability suggests parents were still drawn to classic, timeless names for their sons.

The broader naming patterns reveal interesting trends across both genders. In the US, shorter names dominated the top rankings - many top names had just two syllables. While UK data is limited for 1973, the 1974 rankings show fascinating differences between American and British preferences. The UK favored "Nicola" for girls (ranked #1) and "David" for boys (ranked #1), while these names ranked much lower or didn't appear in the US top 100. Additionally, the "-a" ending remained popular for American girls, while British parents showed a preference for names ending in "-n" for boys, with names like John, Karen, and Fiona ranking high in the UK.

Top baby names of 1974