Popular baby names in Pennsylvania, 1979

The most popular baby names in Pennsylvania in 1979 were Jennifer for girls (2,991 babies) and Michael for boys (4,072). Social Security records list 144,476 babies born in Pennsylvania in 1979 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in Pennsylvania in 1979

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

Girls

Rasheeda: 35 babies, 6× the national rate
Beth: 312 babies, 2.7× the national rate
Colleen: 239 babies, 2.6× the national rate
Bobbi: 67 babies, 2.6× the national rate
Maureen: 95 babies, 2.5× the national rate
Jayme: 39 babies, 2.4× the national rate
Michele: 264 babies, 2.2× the national rate
Lauren: 501 babies, 2.1× the national rate
Gretchen: 84 babies, 2.1× the national rate
Aisha: 59 babies, 2.1× the national rate

Boys

Francis: 141 babies, 3.4× the national rate
Kareem: 54 babies, 3.4× the national rate
Jamar: 54 babies, 3.2× the national rate
Harry: 98 babies, 2.4× the national rate
Bernard: 68 babies, 2× the national rate

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

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1978	US rank
1	Jennifer	2,991	–	1
2	Melissa	1,919	–	2
3	Nicole	1,431	↑3	9
4	Jessica	1,412	↑1	4
5	Amanda	1,329	↑6	3
6	Heather	1,268	↓2	7
7	Amy	1,207	↓4	5
8	Kelly	1,137	↓1	16
9	Lisa	1,000	–	13
10	Michelle	912	↓2	10
11	Rebecca	868	↑4	17
12	Elizabeth	859	↑4	11
13	Christina	839	↓3	14
14	Angela	833	↓2	8
15	Kimberly	829	↓2	12
16	Stephanie	798	↓2	15
17	Sarah	749	↑2	6
18	Jamie	733	↑2	19
19	Erin	699	↓2	21
20	Megan	659	↑3	31
21	Danielle	586	↓3	33
22	Laura	577	↑2	20
23	Christine	545	↓2	35
24	Shannon	514	↓2	25
25	Rachel	507	–	27
26	Lauren	501	new	45
27	Mary	500	↑1	24
28	Julie	498	↓2	29
29	Tara	458	↓2	38
30	Erica	445	↑6	32
31	Crystal	441	↓1	18
32	Andrea	435	↓3	26
33	Dana	396	↑11	54
34	Amber	389	↑16	22
35	April	387	↑5	23
36	Susan	377	↑1	51
37	Karen	357	↓5	46
38	Jill	352	↓7	52
39	Tiffany	346	↑3	28
40	Sara	344	↑1	30
41	Holly	334	↑5	48
42	Kristy	334	↓7	56
43	Kristen	332	↓5	62
44	Lori	332	↓11	69
45	Emily	330	↑3	34
46	Beth	312	↑1	>100
47	Kathleen	304	↑2	84
48	Dawn	301	↓5	57
49	Stacey	292	new	60
50	Carrie	285	↓16	41

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1978	US rank
1	Michael	4,072	–	1
2	Jason	2,617	–	3
3	Christopher	2,356	↑2	2
4	Matthew	2,298	↓1	6
5	David	2,261	↓1	4
6	John	2,042	–	7
7	Robert	1,920	↑1	8
8	James	1,901	↓1	5
9	Joseph	1,732	↑1	11
10	Brian	1,706	↓1	10
11	Daniel	1,537	–	12
12	William	1,380	–	13
13	Joshua	1,264	↑6	9
14	Ryan	1,203	↑2	14
15	Timothy	1,086	↓1	18
16	Thomas	1,078	↓3	26
17	Andrew	1,076	↑4	20
18	Eric	1,024	↓1	17
19	Kevin	990	↓4	19
20	Richard	976	↑2	25
21	Jeffrey	972	↓3	24
22	Justin	938	↑4	22
23	Nicholas	910	↑5	15
24	Mark	898	↓4	30
25	Anthony	893	↓1	21
26	Scott	872	↓3	29
27	Adam	846	↑5	23
28	Jeremy	829	↓1	16
29	Steven	807	↓4	27
30	Stephen	743	↓1	40
31	Charles	722	–	28
32	Jonathan	630	↑1	31
33	Shawn	607	↓3	43
34	Benjamin	591	↑3	33
35	Gregory	589	↓1	42
36	Paul	584	–	34
37	Patrick	568	↑3	39
38	Chad	545	↓3	38
39	Aaron	515	–	32
40	Nathan	507	↑2	37
41	Edward	489	↓3	48
42	Kenneth	433	↓1	41
43	Sean	430	↑1	49
44	Ronald	420	↑2	54
45	Keith	393	↓2	52
46	Bryan	390	↑3	46
47	Todd	374	↓2	60
48	Donald	370	↓1	51
49	Brandon	363	new	35
50	Douglas	357	–	58

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