Name Legacy

Baby names in Virginia, 1970s

1970–1979 · 622,441 recorded births

Michael was the most common name given in Virginia across the 1970s, with 15,737 births in the decade. The state recorded 622,441 births in total over those years.

Most distinctive to Virginia 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
Linwood21612×
Dreama69
Hunter120
Carroll107
Garland109
Waverly19
Lynwood27
Katina474

Top 25 in the 1970s

RankNameBirths
#1Michael15,737
#2Christopher13,457
#3Jennifer12,513
#4James12,441
#5David10,375
#6Robert9,883
#7John9,791
#8William9,470
#9Jason8,759
#10Brian7,483
#11Angela6,383
#12Kimberly6,340
#13Amy6,301
#14Melissa6,088
#15Kevin5,888
#16Matthew5,531
#17Michelle5,169
#18Charles5,111
#19Joseph4,939
#20Lisa4,724
#21Thomas4,721
#22Richard4,611
#23Timothy4,523
#24Heather4,452
#25Stephanie4,255

Other decades in Virginia

All Virginia 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