Popular baby names in West Virginia, 1979

The most popular baby names in West Virginia in 1979 were Amanda for girls (592 babies) and Jason for boys (718). Amanda ranked #3 nationally for girls. Jason ranked #3 nationally for boys. Social Security records list 26,077 babies born in West Virginia in 1979 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in West Virginia in 1979

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

Peggy: 17 babies, 4.3× the national rate
Billie: 25 babies, 4× the national rate
Lora: 17 babies, 3.8× the national rate
Misty: 144 babies, 3.3× the national rate
Beverly: 18 babies, 3.3× the national rate
Joni: 16 babies, 3.2× the national rate
Chasity: 21 babies, 3.1× the national rate
Tabitha: 41 babies, 3× the national rate
Alisha: 39 babies, 3× the national rate
Charity: 27 babies, 3× the national rate

Boys

Jackie: 16 babies, 4.7× the national rate
Roger: 59 babies, 3.6× the national rate
Harold: 27 babies, 2.7× the national rate
Howard: 20 babies, 2.7× the national rate
Billy: 64 babies, 2.6× the national rate
Jerry: 69 babies, 2.5× the national rate
Roy: 35 babies, 2.5× the national rate
Shannon: 33 babies, 2.5× the national rate
Gary: 94 babies, 2.3× the national rate
Jamie: 60 babies, 2.3× the national rate

Top 50 girls' and boys' names in West Virginia, 1979

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1978	US rank
1	Amanda	592	↑1	3
2	Jennifer	494	↓1	1
3	Melissa	344	–	2
4	Jessica	310	↑3	4
5	Amy	308	↓1	5
6	Angela	264	↓1	8
7	Crystal	248	↑1	18
8	Heather	245	↓2	7
9	Rebecca	209	↑2	17
10	Stephanie	209	–	15
11	Sarah	197	↑1	6
12	Christina	195	↓3	14
13	Amber	174	↑9	22
14	April	157	↑2	23
15	Michelle	155	↓1	10
16	Mary	154	↑4	24
17	Kimberly	152	↓2	12
18	Jamie	149	↑3	19
19	Lisa	149	↓6	13
20	Misty	144	↓1	42
21	Elizabeth	143	↓3	11
22	Kelly	143	↓5	16
23	Rachel	120	↑5	27
24	Andrea	104	↑3	26
25	Laura	92	↑9	20
26	Erin	91	↓2	21
27	Megan	91	↑22	31
28	Brandy	90	↓2	39
29	Julie	89	–	29
30	Tara	89	↑14	38
31	Shannon	88	↓6	25
32	Stacy	87	–	43
33	Tiffany	87	↑8	28
34	Erica	85	↑6	32
35	Nicole	85	↓2	9
36	Carrie	82	↓13	41
37	Lori	72	↑1	69
38	Tina	70	↓8	58
39	Christy	67	new	72
40	Sara	67	↓9	30
41	Tracy	64	↓4	49
42	Brandi	61	↑6	61
43	Samantha	61	new	66
44	Tammy	61	new	79
45	Alicia	60	new	47
46	Kristy	59	↓3	56
47	Stacey	58	↓1	60
48	Susan	58	↓12	51
49	Emily	55	↓7	34
50	Melinda	54	new	82

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1978	US rank
1	Jason	718	–	3
2	Michael	573	–	1
3	Christopher	536	↑1	2
4	James	502	↓1	5
5	David	448	–	4
6	Joshua	412	↑4	9
7	John	398	–	7
8	Jeremy	378	↑1	16
9	Robert	341	↓3	8
10	Matthew	339	↓2	6
11	William	284	–	13
12	Joseph	274	↑2	11
13	Brian	269	↓1	10
14	Timothy	252	↓1	18
15	Charles	235	–	28
16	Daniel	193	↑3	12
17	Eric	193	↓1	17
18	Steven	186	↓1	27
19	Adam	166	↑9	23
20	Thomas	164	–	26
21	Richard	163	↓3	25
22	Kevin	160	↑2	19
23	Chad	159	↓1	38
24	Jonathan	157	↑2	31
25	Justin	156	↑5	22
26	Travis	137	↑11	36
27	Aaron	129	–	32
28	Jeffrey	128	↓5	24
29	Nicholas	125	↑2	15
30	Anthony	124	↓1	21
31	Mark	122	↓10	30
32	Andrew	114	↑2	20
33	Ryan	114	–	14
34	Benjamin	111	↑2	33
35	Scott	104	–	29
36	Paul	101	↑2	34
37	Stephen	101	↑2	40
38	Brandon	99	↑10	35
39	Gregory	96	↑1	42
40	Nathan	96	↑3	37
41	Gary	94	↑1	59
42	Shawn	92	↓17	43
43	Patrick	86	↑2	39
44	Kenneth	83	↓12	41
45	Donald	82	↓1	51
46	Douglas	79	new	58
47	Larry	77	↑2	69
48	Ronald	74	↓7	54
49	Bradley	73	↑1	47
50	Jerry	69	new	85

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