Name Legacy

Baby names in Illinois, 1970s

1970–1979 · 1,570,487 recorded births

Michael was the most common name given in Illinois across the 1970s, with 39,780 births in the decade. The state recorded 1,570,487 births in total over those years.

Most distinctive to Illinois in the 1970s

Names given far more often here than nationally in these years. The multiplier is conservative — it is the low end of the plausible range, so a name carried by a handful of births does not outrank one carried by hundreds.

NameBirthsvs national
Jorie10610×
Jori101
Beata61
Bernina16
Cortez215
Lavell102
Syed55
Antwon182

Top 25 in the 1970s

RankNameBirths
#1Michael39,780
#2Jennifer32,253
#3David23,173
#4Jason22,876
#5James22,643
#6Christopher21,837
#7John20,913
#8Robert20,753
#9Brian19,849
#10Matthew15,738
#11Michelle14,866
#12Amy14,687
#13Daniel14,596
#14Joseph13,647
#15William13,563
#16Kimberly12,882
#17Eric12,677
#18Lisa12,510
#19Jeffrey11,600
#20Melissa11,481
#21Mark11,479
#22Angela11,465
#23Scott11,429
#24Kevin11,208
#25Timothy11,179

Other decades in Illinois

All Illinois names, 2025

Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. State records begin in 1910. Names given to fewer than five babies in a state in a year are withheld at source. namelegacy.org