Popular baby names in California, 1976

The most popular baby names in California in 1976 were Jennifer for girls (5,569 babies) and Michael for boys (6,180). Social Security records list 302,547 babies born in California in 1976 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in California in 1976

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

Girls

Maricela: 241 babies, 6.1× the national rate
Lilia: 78 babies, 5.9× the national rate
Rocio: 117 babies, 5.8× the national rate
Guadalupe: 312 babies, 5.7× the national rate
Susana: 227 babies, 5.5× the national rate
Marisela: 154 babies, 5.5× the national rate
Araceli: 164 babies, 5.4× the national rate
Alejandra: 154 babies, 5.4× the national rate
Silvia: 169 babies, 5.2× the national rate
Gabriela: 217 babies, 5.1× the national rate

Boys

Salvador: 341 babies, 6× the national rate
Rodrigo: 90 babies, 5.1× the national rate
Gerardo: 331 babies, 4.8× the national rate
Cesar: 336 babies, 4.6× the national rate
Ignacio: 96 babies, 4.6× the national rate
Sergio: 377 babies, 4.4× the national rate
Alejandro: 472 babies, 4.3× the national rate
Enrique: 283 babies, 4.3× the national rate
Gustavo: 139 babies, 4.3× the national rate
Arturo: 296 babies, 4.2× the national rate

Top 50 girls' and boys' names in California, 1976

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1975	US rank
1	Jennifer	5,569	–	1
2	Amy	2,218	↑1	2
3	Michelle	2,119	↓1	6
4	Maria	1,923	–	34
5	Melissa	1,901	↑1	3
6	Heather	1,856	↓1	4
7	Jessica	1,794	↑7	8
8	Lisa	1,729	–	9
9	Christina	1,684	↓2	14
10	Elizabeth	1,631	–	16
11	Nicole	1,484	↑1	13
12	Sarah	1,438	↑5	15
13	Angela	1,404	↓2	5
14	Kimberly	1,293	↓5	7
15	Rebecca	1,253	↑1	12
16	Stephanie	1,242	↓3	11
17	Shannon	1,218	↑5	17
18	Veronica	1,201	↓3	68
19	Laura	1,189	↓1	20
20	Monica	1,129	–	45
21	Jamie	1,083	new	18
22	Julie	1,003	↓1	21
23	Amanda	950	↑7	10
24	Christine	911	↓1	26
25	Kelly	908	↑4	19
26	Erin	907	↓2	24
27	Andrea	904	↓1	25
28	Amber	892	↑3	49
29	Sara	885	↑18	27
30	Sandra	880	↓3	59
31	Patricia	853	↓12	43
32	Rachel	818	↓4	23
33	Cynthia	769	↓8	44
34	Erica	754	↑2	54
35	Jaime	753	new	29
36	Danielle	751	↑1	33
37	Mary	719	↓5	22
38	Wendy	705	↓3	39
39	Tiffany	669	↓1	32
40	Carrie	644	↑1	28
41	April	638	↓8	30
42	Karen	613	↓8	31
43	Dawn	569	↓1	35
44	Alicia	555	↓5	71
45	Stacy	527	↓5	38
46	Diana	514	↓1	>100
47	Nancy	513	new	87
48	Claudia	503	new	>100
49	Anna	494	new	78
50	Teresa	493	↓2	66

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1975	US rank
1	Michael	6,180	–	1
2	David	4,348	↑1	4
3	Jason	4,347	↓1	2
4	Christopher	3,759	–	3
5	Robert	3,364	–	7
6	Daniel	3,161	–	10
7	James	2,850	↑1	5
8	John	2,832	↓1	6
9	Matthew	2,742	–	9
10	Brian	2,676	–	8
11	Jose	2,351	–	44
12	Joseph	2,092	↑4	12
13	Eric	2,057	↑2	13
14	Joshua	2,032	–	18
15	Ryan	2,026	↓2	16
16	Richard	1,925	↓4	19
17	Anthony	1,750	↑3	22
18	Steven	1,745	–	20
19	William	1,645	–	11
20	Juan	1,604	↑3	58
21	Jeffrey	1,576	↓4	17
22	Jeremy	1,534	↑4	14
23	Kevin	1,509	↑1	15
24	Mark	1,388	↓2	25
25	Scott	1,356	↓4	24
26	Aaron	1,322	↑1	30
27	Paul	1,284	↓2	28
28	Timothy	1,267	↑1	21
29	Thomas	1,150	↓1	23
30	Andrew	1,119	–	27
31	Justin	1,096	–	33
32	Benjamin	975	↑6	32
33	Sean	961	↓1	42
34	Adam	950	↑3	36
35	Jonathan	932	–	31
36	Charles	925	↓3	26
37	Gregory	913	↓1	35
38	Carlos	884	↓4	70
39	Brandon	849	–	40
40	Gabriel	838	new	81
41	Nathan	821	↑4	39
42	Edward	814	–	45
43	Stephen	802	↓2	37
44	Kenneth	787	↓4	38
45	Bryan	760	↓2	43
46	Jesus	757	↓2	>100
47	Jesse	751	↑1	55
48	Shawn	706	↓2	34
49	Luis	678	new	>100
50	Manuel	666	↓1	>100

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