Popular baby names in California, 1974

The most popular baby names in California in 1974 were Jennifer for girls (5,673 babies) and Michael for boys (6,060). Social Security records list 286,935 babies born in California in 1974 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in California in 1974

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: 238 babies, 6.3× the national rate
Rocio: 98 babies, 6× the national rate
Araceli: 162 babies, 5.8× the national rate
Lilia: 84 babies, 5.7× the national rate
Guadalupe: 241 babies, 5.3× the national rate
Alejandra: 76 babies, 5.2× the national rate
Lorena: 304 babies, 5.1× the national rate
Silvia: 165 babies, 5× the national rate
Susana: 162 babies, 4.9× the national rate
Maricela: 121 babies, 4.5× the national rate

Boys

Salvador: 316 babies, 6.4× the national rate
Gustavo: 144 babies, 4.9× the national rate
Cesar: 300 babies, 4.7× the national rate
Ignacio: 93 babies, 4.7× the national rate
Sergio: 315 babies, 4.5× the national rate
Alejandro: 368 babies, 4.4× the national rate
Gerardo: 217 babies, 4.4× the national rate
Armando: 361 babies, 4.3× the national rate
Joaquin: 82 babies, 4.2× the national rate
Ernesto: 191 babies, 4.1× the national rate

Top 50 girls' and boys' names in California, 1974

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1973	US rank
1	Jennifer	5,673	–	1
2	Michelle	2,593	–	3
3	Maria	1,922	↑1	31
4	Heather	1,920	↑2	4
5	Amy	1,855	↑2	2
6	Lisa	1,838	↓3	8
7	Kimberly	1,674	↓2	6
8	Melissa	1,520	–	7
9	Christina	1,465	–	16
10	Elizabeth	1,453	↑2	12
11	Stephanie	1,407	↓1	9
12	Angela	1,276	↑7	5
13	Veronica	1,224	↑2	71
14	Nicole	1,204	↓3	11
15	Rebecca	1,199	↓2	10
16	Julie	1,132	↓2	14
17	Jessica	1,130	↑9	17
18	Shannon	1,127	–	18
19	Laura	1,051	↓2	21
20	Monica	1,026	–	43
21	Patricia	998	↑1	29
22	Cynthia	997	↓6	33
23	Sandra	988	–	44
24	Sarah	984	↑7	20
25	Christine	977	↓4	19
26	Andrea	866	↓2	35
27	Kelly	833	–	15
28	Rachel	771	↑5	36
29	April	759	↑5	28
30	Mary	743	↓5	13
31	Wendy	688	↓1	32
32	Erin	681	↑17	47
33	Tiffany	646	↑9	41
34	Tina	642	↑1	25
35	Dawn	626	↓7	22
36	Danielle	615	↑4	40
37	Denise	607	↓5	53
38	Karen	607	↓9	26
39	Tracy	582	↓3	23
40	Claudia	579	new	>100
41	Gina	560	↓4	84
42	Stacy	558	↓4	38
43	Diana	555	↑4	87
44	Susan	552	↑1	27
45	Amber	542	new	92
46	Carrie	539	–	42
47	Teresa	538	↓3	52
48	Alicia	537	–	90
49	Heidi	502	new	60
50	Nancy	502	new	78

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1973	US rank
1	Michael	6,060	–	1
2	Jason	4,781	–	2
3	David	4,346	–	4
4	Christopher	3,766	–	3
5	Robert	3,453	–	7
6	John	3,019	–	6
7	Brian	2,938	↑1	8
8	Daniel	2,912	↑1	11
9	James	2,892	↓2	5
10	Matthew	2,530	–	9
11	Eric	1,973	↑1	13
12	Richard	1,958	↓1	17
13	Jose	1,940	↑3	47
14	Joseph	1,809	↑1	12
15	Jeffrey	1,772	↑2	15
16	Steven	1,766	↑2	19
17	William	1,725	↓3	10
18	Joshua	1,662	↑6	29
19	Mark	1,650	↓6	16
20	Anthony	1,647	↓1	21
21	Scott	1,546	↓1	18
22	Ryan	1,545	↑1	25
23	Kevin	1,422	↓2	14
24	Aaron	1,277	↑2	32
25	Paul	1,248	↓3	27
26	Jeremy	1,208	↑7	24
27	Thomas	1,168	↓2	20
28	Juan	1,161	↑1	64
29	Timothy	1,141	↓2	22
30	Andrew	1,018	↑2	28
31	Sean	974	↓1	37
32	Charles	958	↓1	23
33	Justin	958	↑5	43
34	Gregory	890	↓6	31
35	Shawn	859	↑1	30
36	Adam	832	↑5	36
37	Jonathan	819	↓2	33
38	Kenneth	819	↓4	34
39	Carlos	808	↑5	71
40	Edward	779	↓3	40
41	Stephen	762	↓2	35
42	Bryan	742	–	45
43	Benjamin	682	new	46
44	Jesus	673	↑5	>100
45	Chad	657	↓5	26
46	Patrick	654	↓1	38
47	Brandon	652	↑1	51
48	Manuel	615	new	>100
49	Luis	611	new	>100
50	Ronald	611	↓4	42

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