These Were The Most Popular Baby Names In 1973

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

1. Jennifer

2. Amy

3. Michelle

4. Kimberly

5. Lisa

6. Melissa

7. Angela

8. Heather

9. Stephanie

10. Rebecca

11. Nicole

12. Julie

13. Elizabeth

14. Mary

15. Tammy

16. Christina

17. Christine

18. Kelly

19. Laura

20. Tracy

21. Dawn

22. Shannon

23. Karen

24. Tina

25. Susan

26. Cynthia

27. Patricia

28. Lori

29. Wendy

30. Andrea

31. Maria

32. Stacy

33. April

34. Jessica

35. Sarah

36. Tonya

37. Tara

38. Denise

39. Sandra

40. Monica

41. Stacey

42. Rachel

43. Melanie

44. Michele

45. Teresa

46. Carrie

47. Pamela

48. Crystal

49. Danielle

50. Tanya

Boys

1. Michael

2. Christopher

3. Jason

4. James

5. David

6. John

7. Robert

8. Brian

9. William

10. Matthew

11. Daniel

12. Joseph

13. Eric

14. Kevin

15. Mark

16. Richard

17. Jeffrey

18. Scott

19. Thomas

20. Steven

21. Anthony

22. Timothy

23. Charles

24. Paul

25. Chad

26. Gregory

27. Shawn

28. Kenneth

29. Andrew

30. Ryan

31. Jonathan

32. Stephen

33. Jeremy

34. Aaron

35. Todd

36. Sean

37. Patrick

38. Edward

39. Donald

40. Ronald

41. Keith

42. Joshua

43. Bryan

44. Gary

45. Adam

46. George

47. Douglas

48. Craig

49. Jose

50. Larry