Popular baby names in Rhode Island, 1972

The most popular baby names in Rhode Island in 1972 were Jennifer for girls (339 babies) and Michael for boys (404). Social Security records list 11,220 babies born in Rhode Island in 1972 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in Rhode Island in 1972

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

Girls

Bethany: 26 babies, 9.8× the national rate
Kerri: 39 babies, 7.6× the national rate
Kristen: 66 babies, 5.5× the national rate
Keri: 18 babies, 4.7× the national rate
Kerry: 28 babies, 4.3× the national rate
Lynn: 30 babies, 3.9× the national rate
Erin: 35 babies, 3.1× the national rate
Christine: 122 babies, 3× the national rate
Tracey: 33 babies, 2.8× the national rate
Diane: 30 babies, 2.8× the national rate

Boys

Derek: 56 babies, 3.6× the national rate
Louis: 25 babies, 3.2× the national rate
Peter: 73 babies, 3× the national rate
Jamie: 34 babies, 2.5× the national rate
Wayne: 26 babies, 2.5× the national rate
Joshua: 45 babies, 2.4× the national rate
Alan: 23 babies, 2.4× the national rate
Marc: 27 babies, 2.1× the national rate
Joseph: 170 babies, 2× the national rate
Stephen: 84 babies, 2× the national rate

Top 50 girls' and boys' names in Rhode Island, 1972

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1971	US rank
1	Jennifer	339	–	1
2	Michelle	190	↑2	2
3	Melissa	163	–	7
4	Kimberly	145	↑1	4
5	Lisa	135	↓3	3
6	Christine	122	–	16
7	Amy	109	↑1	5
8	Nicole	92	↑7	10
9	Dawn	88	↓2	20
10	Julie	83	↑3	12
11	Heather	82	↑1	9
12	Stephanie	71	↑11	8
13	Karen	70	↑3	21
14	Lori	70	↓4	28
15	Susan	67	↓6	24
16	Tammy	67	↓2	11
17	Kristen	66	↓6	85
18	Rebecca	65	↑6	14
19	Elizabeth	60	↑6	15
20	Donna	55	↓1	45
21	Kelly	49	↓3	23
22	Patricia	49	↑6	27
23	Tracy	49	↓1	19
24	Kathleen	44	↑6	57
25	Sandra	43	↑2	31
26	Kristin	42	↑15	67
27	Wendy	42	↑5	29
28	Melanie	41	↑15	42
29	Michele	40	↑6	36
30	Cheryl	39	↑6	56
31	Christina	39	new	26
32	Kerri	39	↓6	>100
33	Jessica	37	↑7	46
34	Mary	37	↓17	13
35	Cynthia	36	new	25
36	Pamela	36	↓5	34
37	Erin	35	↑5	93
38	Robin	35	new	55
39	Tara	35	new	38
40	Gina	34	↓11	78
41	Stacey	34	↑8	41
42	Tina	34	↓21	18
43	Tracey	33	↑1	88
44	Andrea	32	new	30
45	Deborah	31	↓25	43
46	Diane	30	↓1	>100
47	Lynn	30	↓8	>100
48	Rachel	29	new	40
49	Shannon	29	↓16	22
50	Sharon	29	↓3	50

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1971	US rank
1	Michael	404	–	1
2	Christopher	274	↑3	2
3	David	256	–	4
4	John	244	↓2	5
5	James	211	↑1	3
6	Jason	209	↑2	7
7	Robert	209	↓3	6
8	Brian	184	↑2	8
9	Joseph	170	–	12
10	Scott	153	↓3	11
11	Richard	141	–	14
12	Thomas	136	↑2	20
13	Kevin	128	↑2	13
14	William	128	↓2	9
15	Steven	112	↓2	19
16	Eric	106	↑6	16
17	Mark	104	–	18
18	Jeffrey	101	↑3	17
19	Matthew	99	↓1	10
20	Daniel	97	↓1	15
21	Paul	88	↓5	24
22	Stephen	84	↓2	29
23	Timothy	82	↑3	21
24	Peter	73	↓1	48
25	Jonathan	69	↑16	37
26	Anthony	66	↓2	22
27	Kenneth	64	↑4	27
28	Gregory	63	↑8	26
29	Edward	62	↓4	34
30	Sean	59	↑3	33
31	Keith	58	↓3	38
32	Derek	56	↑3	67
33	Charles	50	↑1	23
34	Ronald	49	↓2	32
35	George	48	↑3	44
36	Shawn	46	↑3	28
37	Andrew	45	↑3	30
38	Joshua	45	new	59
39	Todd	44	↓10	31
40	Raymond	41	↓13	54
41	Donald	40	↓11	36
42	Dennis	34	↑6	52
43	Gary	34	–	41
44	Jamie	34	new	72
45	Patrick	33	↓8	35
46	Adam	30	new	51
47	Frank	29	↓3	56
48	Craig	28	↓3	46
49	Ryan	28	new	39
50	Marc	27	↓8	83

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