The most popular baby names in the U.S. tend to remain the same from one year to the next, but when you examine parents’ choices over longer periods of time, some interesting trends emerge.
Some names rise from obscurity to dominate the charts, others totally fall off the map and still others seem to ebb and flow through different periods.
Using the Social Security Administration’s baby naming database, we took a look at the most popular names 50 years ago to see how they compare to the top picks today. While plenty remain popular (think classics like James, Michael and Elizabeth), you’d be hard-pressed to find many of these trendy ’70s choices on birth certificates these days (shoutout to Tammy, Dawn, Keith and Craig).
Below, find the 50 most popular baby names for boys and girls born in 1973.
Girls
Jennifer
Amy
Michelle
Kimberly
Lisa
Melissa
Angela
Heather
Stephanie
Rebecca
Nicole
Julie
Elizabeth
Mary
Tammy
Christina
Christine
Kelly
Laura
Tracy
Dawn
Shannon
Karen
Tina
Susan
Cynthia
Patricia
Lori
Wendy
Andrea
Maria
Stacy
April
Jessica
Sarah
Tonya
Tara
Denise
Sandra
Monica
Stacey
Rachel
Melanie
Michele
Teresa
Carrie
Pamela
Crystal
Danielle
Tanya
Boys
Michael
Christopher
Jason
James
David
John
Robert
Brian
William
Matthew
Daniel
Joseph
Eric
Kevin
Mark
Richard
Jeffrey
Scott
Thomas
Steven
Anthony
Timothy
Charles
Paul
Chad
Gregory
Shawn
Kenneth
Andrew
Ryan
Jonathan
Stephen
Jeremy
Aaron
Todd
Sean
Patrick
Edward
Donald
Ronald
Keith
Joshua
Bryan
Gary
Adam
George
Douglas
Craig
Jose
Larry
