Popular baby names in West Virginia, 1970

The most popular baby names in West Virginia in 1970 were Melissa for girls (432 babies) and Michael for boys (716). Melissa ranked #7 nationally for girls. Social Security records list 26,819 babies born in West Virginia in 1970 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in West Virginia in 1970

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

Girls

Billie: 39 babies, 4.8× the national rate
Lora: 41 babies, 4.7× the national rate
Loretta: 37 babies, 3.7× the national rate
Betty: 50 babies, 3.5× the national rate
Misty: 26 babies, 3.1× the national rate
Marsha: 30 babies, 3× the national rate
Bobbi: 17 babies, 2.9× the national rate
Roberta: 28 babies, 2.8× the national rate
Kelli: 66 babies, 2.7× the national rate
Sherri: 62 babies, 2.7× the national rate

Boys

Virgil: 15 babies, 4.9× the national rate
Jackie: 21 babies, 3.7× the national rate
Roger: 118 babies, 3.4× the national rate
Franklin: 31 babies, 3.4× the national rate
Harold: 61 babies, 3× the national rate
Jerry: 140 babies, 2.5× the national rate
Lloyd: 19 babies, 2.5× the national rate
Randall: 59 babies, 2.4× the national rate
Bobby: 64 babies, 2.3× the national rate
Harry: 29 babies, 2.3× the national rate

Top 50 girls' and boys' names in West Virginia, 1970

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1969	US rank
1	Melissa	432	↑1	7
2	Lisa	417	↓1	2
3	Kimberly	371	–	3
4	Angela	346	↑1	6
5	Tammy	329	↓1	8
6	Amy	258	↑3	5
7	Jennifer	257	↑1	1
8	Michelle	251	↓1	4
9	Mary	224	↓3	9
10	Tina	197	↑1	21
11	Rebecca	181	↓1	29
12	Stephanie	173	↑8	17
13	Teresa	172	↑1	34
14	Lori	168	↓2	23
15	Pamela	152	–	26
16	Tracy	150	↑10	10
17	Kelly	141	↓1	20
18	Karen	131	↑16	12
19	Patricia	130	↓2	24
20	Susan	129	↓7	15
21	Elizabeth	127	↑4	18
22	Christina	124	↑11	35
23	Cynthia	119	↑1	25
24	Brenda	108	↓1	40
25	Donna	105	↓7	32
26	Heather	105	↑15	19
27	Julie	104	↓5	11
28	Laura	101	↑3	13
29	Robin	95	↓2	51
30	Shannon	93	new	22
31	Sandra	90	↓12	27
32	Sherry	90	↓3	60
33	Linda	86	↑2	38
34	Barbara	85	↓13	41
35	Kathy	83	↑3	77
36	Cheryl	79	↑7	44
37	Tonya	79	↑5	49
38	Rhonda	78	↓10	46
39	Debra	77	↓7	47
40	Wendy	76	↑7	28
41	Crystal	73	new	>100
42	Christine	72	↓6	14
43	Michele	72	↓3	31
44	Deborah	71	↓14	33
45	Dawn	70	new	16
46	Sharon	67	↓7	37
47	Kelli	66	new	>100
48	Melinda	65	↓4	93
49	Sherri	62	↓4	>100
50	Paula	61	↓13	57

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1969	US rank
1	Michael	716	↑1	1
2	James	659	↓1	2
3	David	551	–	3
4	Robert	550	↑1	5
5	John	523	↓1	4
6	William	430	–	7
7	Charles	329	↑2	21
8	Brian	316	↓1	8
9	Richard	314	↑1	10
10	Christopher	298	↑4	6
11	Mark	296	↓3	9
12	Timothy	250	–	20
13	Joseph	241	↑5	16
14	Kevin	240	↑3	14
15	Jeffrey	237	↓4	11
16	Thomas	228	↓3	17
17	Steven	223	↓2	15
18	Scott	185	↑1	12
19	Paul	173	↑1	23
20	Eric	170	↑5	18
21	Gregory	160	↓5	26
22	Kenneth	157	↑1	25
23	Jason	155	↑23	13
24	Matthew	155	↑5	24
25	Ronald	149	↓1	29
26	Daniel	147	↓4	19
27	Gary	144	↓6	35
28	Jerry	140	–	45
29	Stephen	139	↑1	27
30	Larry	135	↓4	43
31	Donald	130	↓4	30
32	Roger	118	–	61
33	Anthony	111	↑1	22
34	Douglas	102	↓3	36
35	Edward	92	↑4	31
36	Shawn	92	↑2	34
37	Todd	88	↓4	28
38	Rodney	87	↑4	55
39	Jeffery	85	↑5	50
40	George	76	↓5	40
41	Jonathan	74	new	42
42	Patrick	73	↓6	33
43	Terry	71	↓6	54
44	Billy	69	↑3	78
45	Dennis	69	↑3	46
46	Bryan	68	↓3	53
47	Keith	68	↑2	38
48	Bradley	67	new	47
49	Samuel	66	new	62
50	Bobby	64	new	87

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