Popular baby names in Minnesota, 1979

The most popular baby names in Minnesota in 1979 were Jennifer for girls (1,239 babies) and Michael for boys (1,204). Social Security records list 58,905 babies born in Minnesota in 1979 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in Minnesota in 1979

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

Girls

Molly: 160 babies, 4.6× the national rate
Renae: 20 babies, 4.5× the national rate
Jolene: 43 babies, 4.4× the national rate
Kari: 129 babies, 4× the national rate
Heidi: 241 babies, 3.8× the national rate
Gretchen: 61 babies, 3.8× the national rate
Tessa: 29 babies, 3.8× the national rate
Katie: 291 babies, 3.7× the national rate
Sadie: 16 babies, 3.4× the national rate
Anne: 150 babies, 3.2× the national rate

Boys

Reed: 19 babies, 7.5× the national rate
Darin: 31 babies, 3.4× the national rate
Brady: 27 babies, 3.1× the national rate
Luke: 133 babies, 3× the national rate
Ross: 54 babies, 3× the national rate
Nickolas: 33 babies, 3× the national rate
Bryce: 29 babies, 3× the national rate
Kory: 16 babies, 2.9× the national rate
Nathan: 523 babies, 2.7× the national rate
Troy: 144 babies, 2.7× the national rate

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

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1978	US rank
1	Jennifer	1,239	–	1
2	Melissa	856	↑2	2
3	Jessica	823	↓1	4
4	Sarah	726	↓1	6
5	Angela	708	–	8
6	Amanda	641	↑9	3
7	Amy	585	↓1	5
8	Nicole	553	↓1	9
9	Kelly	459	↓1	16
10	Heather	395	↓1	7
11	Michelle	392	↑1	10
12	Lisa	368	↓2	13
13	Sara	361	↓2	30
14	Rebecca	349	↓1	17
15	Elizabeth	346	↓1	11
16	Laura	312	↑2	20
17	Andrea	306	↑2	26
18	Stephanie	301	↑3	15
19	Katie	291	↑6	63
20	Erin	289	↓4	21
21	Rachel	275	↑2	27
22	Emily	262	↑6	34
23	Christina	258	↓6	14
24	Kimberly	252	–	12
25	Katherine	243	↑1	36
26	Heidi	241	↑7	83
27	Megan	237	↑11	31
28	Julie	236	↓6	29
29	Amber	234	↑2	22
30	Jamie	224	↓1	19
31	Jill	222	↓11	52
32	Shannon	222	↓5	25
33	Stacy	211	↓3	43
34	Christine	179	↓2	35
35	Mary	175	↑4	24
36	Carrie	168	↓1	41
37	Kristin	160	↑5	73
38	Molly	160	↓1	>100
39	Kathryn	158	↓3	50
40	Tara	156	↑6	38
41	Tracy	156	–	49
42	Crystal	154	↑3	18
43	Anne	150	new	>100
44	Holly	150	↑3	48
45	Kristina	143	↓5	74
46	Anna	139	new	59
47	Danielle	131	↓3	33
48	April	130	new	23
49	Tiffany	130	new	28
50	Kari	129	↓16	>100

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1978	US rank
1	Michael	1,204	–	1
2	Matthew	1,126	↑1	6
3	Jason	948	↓1	3
4	Joshua	893	↑3	9
5	Christopher	832	–	2
6	Ryan	828	↓2	14
7	Nicholas	761	↑6	15
8	Andrew	741	–	20
9	Daniel	708	–	12
10	David	670	↓4	4
11	Brian	645	↓1	10
12	Joseph	623	↓1	11
13	John	597	↑2	7
14	Jeremy	577	↓2	16
15	Adam	566	↑8	23
16	Eric	540	↓2	17
17	Nathan	523	↑1	37
18	James	496	↓2	5
19	Jeffrey	467	↓2	24
20	Justin	462	↑5	22
21	Benjamin	460	↑3	33
22	Timothy	443	↓2	18
23	Robert	439	↓2	8
24	Aaron	433	↓2	32
25	Scott	426	↑1	29
26	Chad	419	↓7	38
27	Mark	357	–	30
28	Thomas	348	–	26
29	Anthony	338	–	21
30	Jesse	310	↑1	50
31	Steven	303	↑1	27
32	Travis	302	↑7	36
33	Paul	298	↓3	34
34	Kevin	295	↓1	19
35	Jacob	291	↓1	45
36	Brandon	280	–	35
37	William	257	↓2	13
38	Patrick	256	↑2	39
39	Peter	237	↑2	53
40	Jonathan	234	↓2	31
41	Charles	213	↑3	28
42	Bradley	206	↑1	47
43	Richard	201	↓1	25
44	Shawn	183	↓7	43
45	Kyle	178	–	56
46	Erik	163	new	66
47	Bryan	151	↑3	46
48	Brent	148	↓2	84
49	Gregory	145	–	42
50	Shane	144	new	67

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