Popular baby names in West Virginia, 1972

The most popular baby names in West Virginia in 1972 were Melissa for girls (457 babies) and Michael for boys (717). Melissa ranked #7 nationally for girls. Social Security records list 26,013 babies born in West Virginia in 1972 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in West Virginia in 1972

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

Betsy: 23 babies, 4.5× the national rate
Lora: 31 babies, 4.4× the national rate
Bobbi: 22 babies, 3.8× the national rate
Crystal: 132 babies, 3.3× the national rate
Betty: 36 babies, 3.3× the national rate
Loretta: 28 babies, 3.3× the national rate
Misty: 56 babies, 2.9× the national rate
Marsha: 28 babies, 2.9× the national rate
Roberta: 23 babies, 2.9× the national rate
Billie: 24 babies, 2.8× the national rate

Boys

Teddy: 17 babies, 6× the national rate
Franklin: 34 babies, 4.3× the national rate
Jackie: 24 babies, 4.2× the national rate
Roger: 111 babies, 3.7× the national rate
Leslie: 21 babies, 2.9× the national rate
Scotty: 19 babies, 2.9× the national rate
Randall: 52 babies, 2.6× the national rate
Harold: 43 babies, 2.5× the national rate
Larry: 136 babies, 2.4× the national rate
Billy: 70 babies, 2.4× the national rate

Top 50 girls' and boys' names in West Virginia, 1972

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1971	US rank
1	Melissa	457	–	7
2	Jennifer	425	↑2	1
3	Angela	351	–	6
4	Lisa	345	↓2	3
5	Michelle	309	↑2	2
6	Kimberly	291	↓1	4
7	Amy	290	↑1	5
8	Tammy	242	↓2	11
9	Rebecca	225	↑1	14
10	Stephanie	215	↑1	8
11	Mary	189	↓2	13
12	Heather	166	↑3	9
13	Tina	158	↓1	18
14	Teresa	155	↑2	39
15	Christina	142	↑3	26
16	Crystal	132	↑15	59
17	Lori	132	↓4	28
18	Elizabeth	119	↑6	15
19	Susan	116	↓5	24
20	Tracy	115	↑2	19
21	April	113	↑20	48
22	Kelly	111	↑1	23
23	Cynthia	110	↓6	25
24	Pamela	110	↓5	34
25	Patricia	102	–	27
26	Julie	93	↓6	12
27	Laura	93	–	17
28	Donna	90	↓2	45
29	Karen	85	↓8	21
30	Sherry	85	–	70
31	Tonya	83	↑7	37
32	Rhonda	80	↑5	60
33	Robin	77	↓4	55
34	Wendy	75	new	29
35	Andrea	74	↑12	30
36	Linda	72	↑9	51
37	Shannon	72	↓5	22
38	Nicole	71	new	10
39	Brenda	70	↓4	44
40	Stacy	70	↓12	33
41	Deborah	68	↑1	43
42	Paula	67	↓6	72
43	Dawn	66	↓9	20
44	Michele	66	↑2	36
45	Tara	65	↑4	38
46	Kathy	63	↓6	>100
47	Sarah	63	new	49
48	Sandra	60	↓9	31
49	Christy	59	new	74
50	Barbara	58	↓17	58

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1971	US rank
1	Michael	717	↑1	1
2	James	608	↓1	3
3	Christopher	533	↑4	2
4	David	506	↓1	4
5	John	505	↓1	5
6	Robert	492	↓1	6
7	Brian	441	↑1	8
8	William	378	↓2	9
9	Charles	294	–	23
10	Jason	259	↑5	7
11	Steven	254	↑5	19
12	Mark	248	↑1	18
13	Kevin	241	↓3	13
14	Richard	240	↓3	14
15	Jeffrey	217	↓3	17
16	Eric	216	↑4	16
17	Timothy	213	↓3	21
18	Thomas	207	–	20
19	Joseph	202	–	12
20	Matthew	173	↑2	10
21	Scott	171	↓4	11
22	Gregory	165	↓1	26
23	Ronald	149	↑7	32
24	Gary	140	↑2	41
25	Shawn	138	↑7	28
26	Kenneth	137	↓1	27
27	Daniel	136	↑1	15
28	Larry	136	↓4	47
29	Stephen	135	↓2	29
30	Chad	130	↑9	25
31	Anthony	127	↑3	22
32	Paul	127	↓9	24
33	Donald	117	↓4	36
34	Roger	111	↓3	76
35	Jonathan	98	↑10	37
36	Jerry	95	↓3	53
37	Edward	83	↑6	34
38	Todd	83	↑6	31
39	Aaron	79	↑11	40
40	Douglas	77	↓4	43
41	Bryan	74	↑8	45
42	George	72	↓7	44
43	Billy	70	↑3	81
44	Rodney	70	↓7	65
45	Danny	69	↑2	87
46	Keith	69	↓6	38
47	Patrick	66	↓5	35
48	Terry	65	↓10	62
49	Samuel	62	new	66
50	Raymond	57	new	54

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