Popular baby names in Massachusetts, 1979

The most popular baby names in Massachusetts in 1979 were Jennifer for girls (1,512 babies) and Michael for boys (2,113). Social Security records list 64,564 babies born in Massachusetts in 1979 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in Massachusetts in 1979

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

Girls

Katelyn: 29 babies, 24.1× the national rate
Kaitlin: 16 babies, 14.7× the national rate
Caitlin: 65 babies, 13.4× the national rate
Meaghan: 47 babies, 8.2× the national rate
Maura: 30 babies, 6.9× the national rate
Lynne: 27 babies, 6.9× the national rate
Kate: 126 babies, 5.2× the national rate
Gillian: 17 babies, 5.1× the national rate
Kerry: 94 babies, 5× the national rate
Deirdre: 19 babies, 4.8× the national rate

Boys

Brendon: 24 babies, 6× the national rate
Brendan: 109 babies, 5.6× the national rate
Dana: 54 babies, 4.4× the national rate
Bradford: 47 babies, 3.9× the national rate
Peter: 387 babies, 3.2× the national rate
Marc: 136 babies, 3× the national rate
Ethan: 40 babies, 2.9× the national rate
Nelson: 35 babies, 2.7× the national rate
Sean: 332 babies, 2.5× the national rate
Francis: 46 babies, 2.5× the national rate

Top 50 girls' and boys' names in Massachusetts, 1979

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1978	US rank
1	Jennifer	1,512	–	1
2	Melissa	1,007	–	2
3	Jessica	818	–	4
4	Sarah	639	↑1	6
5	Nicole	570	↑2	9
6	Michelle	559	–	10
7	Amy	546	↓3	5
8	Elizabeth	542	–	11
9	Lisa	502	–	13
10	Heather	474	–	7
11	Kelly	447	–	16
12	Amanda	422	↑8	3
13	Erin	407	↓1	21
14	Kimberly	353	–	12
15	Stephanie	351	↑3	15
16	Christine	350	↓3	35
17	Rebecca	349	↓2	17
18	Christina	342	↑1	14
19	Danielle	323	↓3	33
20	Lauren	319	↑13	45
21	Julie	307	↓4	29
22	Laura	289	↑1	20
23	Andrea	256	↓1	26
24	Angela	247	–	8
25	Shannon	247	↑6	25
26	Katherine	245	↑1	36
27	Kristen	237	↓6	62
28	Emily	222	–	34
29	Rachel	221	↓4	27
30	Sara	210	↑5	30
31	Mary	208	↓1	24
32	Erica	205	↑4	32
33	Katie	205	↑16	63
34	Jamie	198	↑4	19
35	Jill	188	↓6	52
36	Meghan	188	↑10	>100
37	Tara	185	↓3	38
38	Kathleen	183	↓12	84
39	Kristin	178	↓2	73
40	Kathryn	169	↑1	50
41	Karen	168	↓9	46
42	Megan	164	↑2	31
43	Melanie	153	↑5	53
44	Crystal	150	↓2	18
45	Colleen	142	↑5	>100
46	Allison	141	new	70
47	Susan	136	↓8	51
48	Patricia	135	new	44
49	Catherine	134	↓6	78
50	Alicia	130	new	47

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1978	US rank
1	Michael	2,113	–	1
2	Christopher	1,228	↑1	2
3	Matthew	1,150	↓1	6
4	David	1,114	↑1	4
5	Jason	1,068	↓1	3
6	John	946	–	7
7	Brian	867	↑2	10
8	Daniel	852	–	12
9	James	815	↓2	5
10	Robert	814	–	8
11	Joseph	778	–	11
12	Andrew	569	↑4	20
13	Jeffrey	567	↓1	24
14	William	562	↑1	13
15	Kevin	561	↓2	19
16	Nicholas	550	↑12	15
17	Joshua	533	↑1	9
18	Eric	524	↓1	17
19	Timothy	509	↓5	18
20	Adam	507	↑4	23
21	Thomas	506	↓1	26
22	Mark	456	↓1	30
23	Ryan	442	↓1	14
24	Scott	442	↓1	29
25	Richard	427	↓6	25
26	Jonathan	421	↑1	31
27	Paul	416	↓2	34
28	Peter	387	↑1	53
29	Patrick	368	↑3	39
30	Steven	368	–	27
31	Stephen	364	↓5	40
32	Anthony	353	↓1	21
33	Justin	335	–	22
34	Sean	332	–	49
35	Benjamin	295	↑1	33
36	Jeremy	275	↑4	16
37	Gregory	245	↓2	42
38	Charles	237	↑1	28
39	Keith	225	↓1	52
40	Edward	224	↑1	48
41	Shawn	218	↓4	43
42	Nathan	206	↑2	37
43	Aaron	173	↑3	32
44	Derek	158	↑3	72
45	Kenneth	147	↓3	41
46	Jose	141	new	44
47	Shaun	139	↓2	64
48	Dennis	138	new	75
49	Chad	137	new	38
50	Erik	137	new	66

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