Popular baby names in West Virginia, 1976

The most popular baby names in West Virginia in 1976 were Jennifer for girls (517 babies) and Michael for boys (664). Social Security records list 24,801 babies born in West Virginia in 1976 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in West Virginia in 1976

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

Lora: 27 babies, 5.2× the national rate
Chrystal: 20 babies, 5.1× the national rate
Misti: 18 babies, 4.4× the national rate
Beverly: 31 babies, 4.2× the national rate
Misty: 185 babies, 4× the national rate
Crystal: 206 babies, 3.8× the national rate
Joni: 17 babies, 3.7× the national rate
Joyce: 27 babies, 3.6× the national rate
Sherri: 30 babies, 3.3× the national rate
Chasity: 24 babies, 3.2× the national rate

Boys

Scotty: 16 babies, 4.2× the national rate
Roger: 84 babies, 4× the national rate
Jackie: 17 babies, 3.6× the national rate
Franklin: 22 babies, 3.2× the national rate
Howard: 26 babies, 3× the national rate
Danny: 57 babies, 2.7× the national rate
Billy: 70 babies, 2.6× the national rate
Larry: 104 babies, 2.5× the national rate
Harry: 20 babies, 2.5× the national rate
Ricky: 40 babies, 2.4× the national rate

Top 50 girls' and boys' names in West Virginia, 1976

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1975	US rank
1	Jennifer	517	–	1
2	Melissa	389	↑2	3
3	Amy	355	↓1	2
4	Heather	340	↑1	4
5	Angela	330	↓2	5
6	Amanda	231	↑9	10
7	Stephanie	213	↑1	11
8	Crystal	206	↑1	36
9	Rebecca	204	↑1	12
10	Kimberly	201	↓4	7
11	Lisa	194	↓4	9
12	Michelle	194	↓1	6
13	Christina	188	↓1	14
14	Misty	185	↑3	46
15	Mary	151	↓1	22
16	Jamie	148	new	18
17	April	134	↓4	30
18	Jessica	134	↑14	8
19	Sarah	129	↑4	15
20	Shannon	113	↑25	17
21	Carrie	107	–	28
22	Elizabeth	107	↑2	16
23	Julie	102	↓5	21
24	Kelly	102	↓8	19
25	Laura	102	↑15	20
26	Tonya	102	↓1	58
27	Stacy	94	↑1	38
28	Jaime	92	new	29
29	Tammy	88	↓7	41
30	Susan	87	↓10	40
31	Tina	82	↓12	48
32	Andrea	79	↑7	25
33	Lori	79	↓7	47
34	Christy	75	↓7	60
35	Tara	75	↓2	42
36	Amber	73	↑7	49
37	Wendy	73	↓1	39
38	Rachel	70	↓3	23
39	Tracy	70	↓10	37
40	Tiffany	68	new	32
41	Erin	66	↑6	24
42	Sara	66	new	27
43	Cynthia	62	↓12	44
44	Patricia	60	–	43
45	Teresa	57	↑1	66
46	Melinda	56	↑2	95
47	Brandy	54	new	55
48	Holly	54	new	56
49	Nicole	54	↓12	13
50	Rhonda	54	new	>100

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1975	US rank
1	Michael	664	–	1
2	Jason	645	–	2
3	James	519	–	5
4	Christopher	483	–	3
5	David	438	–	4
6	John	421	–	6
7	Robert	389	–	7
8	William	377	–	11
9	Brian	314	–	8
10	Matthew	284	–	9
11	Jeremy	255	↑14	14
12	Joseph	249	–	12
13	Charles	233	↓2	26
14	Eric	229	↑2	13
15	Kevin	202	↓1	15
16	Timothy	199	↑2	21
17	Richard	176	↓2	19
18	Steven	175	↓5	20
19	Chad	172	↓2	29
20	Thomas	166	–	23
21	Daniel	164	↑2	10
22	Mark	153	↓3	25
23	Joshua	148	↑4	18
24	Shawn	143	↓2	34
25	Jeffrey	133	↓4	17
26	Stephen	133	↑5	37
27	Jonathan	125	↑2	31
28	Scott	120	↓4	24
29	Donald	110	↑3	47
30	Gregory	104	↑9	35
31	Larry	104	↓1	60
32	Paul	102	↓4	28
33	Benjamin	99	↑11	32
34	Aaron	96	–	30
35	Gary	96	↓9	52
36	Anthony	91	↓1	22
37	Kenneth	89	↑1	38
38	Roger	84	↓5	>100
39	Ronald	84	↓3	49
40	Jamie	83	–	62
41	Adam	81	↑5	36
42	Jerry	80	↓5	67
43	Andrew	78	↓1	27
44	Ryan	78	↓3	16
45	Bryan	75	new	43
46	Travis	75	↓1	46
47	Billy	70	new	85
48	Patrick	68	new	41
49	Douglas	63	new	56
50	Brandon	62	new	40

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