Popular baby names in California, 1972

The most popular baby names in California in 1972 were Jennifer for girls (6,065 babies) and Michael for boys (6,346). Social Security records list 287,212 babies born in California in 1972 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in California in 1972

Names given at least 15 times in California that year and at least twice as common as in the US as a whole.

Girls

Gabriela: 174 babies, 5.8× the national rate
Alejandra: 84 babies, 5.8× the national rate
Araceli: 107 babies, 5.7× the national rate
Guadalupe: 205 babies, 4.9× the national rate
Susana: 127 babies, 4.9× the national rate
Maricela: 102 babies, 4.9× the national rate
Lorena: 215 babies, 4.6× the national rate
Silvia: 131 babies, 4.6× the national rate
Leticia: 389 babies, 4.1× the national rate
Angelica: 242 babies, 4× the national rate

Boys

Salvador: 239 babies, 5.7× the national rate
Guillermo: 118 babies, 4.5× the national rate
Sergio: 263 babies, 4.4× the national rate
Joaquin: 76 babies, 4.4× the national rate
Gustavo: 105 babies, 4.3× the national rate
Louie: 82 babies, 4.2× the national rate
Armando: 283 babies, 4× the national rate
Cesar: 183 babies, 4× the national rate
Gerardo: 171 babies, 4× the national rate
Alejandro: 253 babies, 3.9× the national rate

Top 50 girls' and boys' names in California, 1972

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1971	US rank
1	Jennifer	6,065	–	1
2	Michelle	2,881	–	2
3	Lisa	2,430	–	3
4	Kimberly	1,914	–	4
5	Maria	1,666	–	32
6	Nicole	1,546	↑15	10
7	Heather	1,517	–	9
8	Amy	1,462	↑2	5
9	Christina	1,404	–	26
10	Julie	1,404	↓4	12
11	Stephanie	1,403	↑4	8
12	Elizabeth	1,364	↓1	15
13	Melissa	1,288	↑4	7
14	Cynthia	1,284	↑2	25
15	Angela	1,239	↓3	6
16	Laura	1,213	↓3	17
17	Shannon	1,198	↓9	22
18	Christine	1,172	↓4	16
19	Rebecca	1,109	↑4	14
20	Patricia	1,026	↓2	27
21	Sandra	1,024	↓2	31
22	Monica	1,010	↑5	47
23	Tina	941	↓3	18
24	Mary	927	↓2	13
25	Andrea	844	↑4	30
26	Karen	808	↓2	21
27	Denise	804	↑1	35
28	Tracy	789	↓3	19
29	Kelly	771	↑1	23
30	Veronica	762	↑17	82
31	Dawn	743	↓5	20
32	Rachel	727	↑8	40
33	Wendy	720	–	29
34	Tammy	704	↓2	11
35	Michele	703	↑4	36
36	Jessica	699	↑8	46
37	Teresa	661	↓2	39
38	Susan	651	↓7	24
39	Lori	604	↓1	28
40	Tiffany	603	↑3	61
41	April	598	↑4	48
42	Stacy	590	↓6	33
43	Gina	588	↓9	78
44	Tanya	569	new	54
45	Diana	558	↓3	83
46	Deborah	542	↓9	43
47	Sarah	540	new	49
48	Danielle	539	new	73
49	Anna	536	new	86
50	Carrie	535	↓9	53

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1971	US rank
1	Michael	6,346	–	1
2	David	4,629	–	4
3	Jason	4,037	↑2	7
4	Christopher	4,017	↑3	2
5	Robert	3,969	↓2	6
6	John	3,543	↓2	5
7	James	3,345	↓1	3
8	Brian	2,937	↑1	8
9	Daniel	2,502	↑1	15
10	Richard	2,314	↓2	14
11	Eric	2,310	–	16
12	Matthew	2,240	↑3	10
13	William	1,931	↑1	9
14	Steven	1,909	↓1	19
15	Jeffrey	1,824	↑1	17
16	Scott	1,811	↓4	11
17	Mark	1,805	–	18
18	Joseph	1,765	↑1	12
19	Anthony	1,675	↑1	22
20	Kevin	1,623	↓2	13
21	Jose	1,573	↑2	50
22	Paul	1,504	↓1	24
23	Thomas	1,335	↓1	20
24	Timothy	1,254	–	21
25	Ryan	1,149	↑16	39
26	Aaron	1,119	↑1	40
27	Gregory	1,105	↑1	26
28	Sean	1,097	↓3	33
29	Charles	1,076	↓3	23
30	Edward	968	–	34
31	Andrew	944	↑3	30
32	Kenneth	941	↓3	27
33	Chad	866	–	25
34	Joshua	857	↑13	59
35	Juan	823	↑5	73
36	Shawn	790	↓4	28
37	Patrick	783	–	35
38	Jeremy	780	↑1	42
39	Stephen	771	↓8	29
40	Jonathan	763	↑4	37
41	Ronald	727	↓6	32
42	Todd	704	↓6	31
43	Donald	688	↓5	36
44	Carlos	684	↑5	84
45	Justin	674	new	60
46	Bryan	663	↑4	45
47	Peter	652	↑1	48
48	Raymond	626	↓3	54
49	George	620	↓3	44
50	Frank	614	↓7	56

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