40 ’70s Baby Names Due For A Comeback

This name dominated the baby name charts in the ’70s, probably because of the first daughter, Amy Carter, who grew up in the public eye in the White House while her father Jimmy Carter was in office. Amy is of French origin and means “beloved.”

This name had its first blockbuster decade in the ’70s, but if you grew up in the ’90s and early-’00s, then you know the name Christopher stayed at the top of the charts for a while. In fact from 1967 to 2009, it was a Top 10 boys name every single year. Coming from Greek, it means “Christ bearer.”

With cute nicknames like “Kim” and “Lee,” we love this one and don’t really understand why Kimberly ever left the charts. It’s a sweet, versatile name with lots of ‘70s baby name energy. Kimberly comes from Old English and means “woodland clearing of the royal fortress.”

This Irish name, which means “noble” or “high,” hit its zenith of popularity in the ‘70s before declining steadily thereafter. Honestly, we think it’s high time for a Brian comeback.

Iconic songstress Gloria Gaynor was a queen of the ‘70s — what else could you call the woman who sang “I Will Survive”? And, honestly, though this gorgeous name, which is Latin for “glory,” has been steadily descending the name charts since the 1920s, we think it deserves some love.

This somewhat hippie-ish name reached the peak of its popularity from the mid-’60s to the mid-’70s. With its air of romantic optimism, Dawn is a perfect ’70s baby name.

If Gloria was a queen of the ‘70s, then surely Elton John was a king. This Old English place name means “from Ella’s settlement.”

After the ’60s and ’70s, this name took a nose-dive in terms of popularity, and we can’t figure out why — it’s a great name! This Middle English name comes to us by way of French and means “God’s peace.”

Though often considered a nickname for Julia, “Julie” was a popular standalone baby name back in the ‘70s and means “youthful” in Latin.

This name (which means “Scotsman”) reached its height of popularity in 1971 and while it declined every year thereafter, Scott remained popular throughout the decade.

The princess of the ‘70s was surely Princess Leia from Star Wars. This baby name, a variant on the Hebrew Leah (which, in Hebrew is also pronounced like Leia), means “delicate” or “weary,” though, certainly, our favorite space princess was neither!

Look, the data doesn’t support this being a particularly ‘70s name — it was popular from the 1940s through the 1970s, when it was already starting to decline. But the baby name Steven has ’70s vibes, and we’re not going to dismiss vibes. This name comes from Greek and means “crown.”

This is a name that my husband suggested when I was pregnant with my son and I dismissed it out of hand, but the more I thought about it the more I thought “Actually, Gregory is a very good name indeed.” I didn’t use it, but if you’re going for a ‘70s baby name, it’s a great pick. Versions of this Greek origin name appear around the world in slightly different forms (like Russian, Grigori). Gregory means “watchful.”

Between Donna Summer, aka the Queen of Disco, and Donna Pinciotti from That ’70s Show, this name is the 1970s personified. Donna is an English language name, but means “mistress of the house” in classical Italian and “lady” in modern Italian.

Jennifer was the #1 girls name in the country from 1970 all the way through 1984. It is the uncontested ruler of ‘70s girl names. That said, Millennial moms, many of whom were born in the ‘80s, are still living with the psychological torture of being one of 17 Jennifers in their class and might not be ready for it to come back yet. But Jenny as a standalone is just different enough. It is the English version of the name Guinievere and means “fair one.”

Meghan Trainor recently gave birth to her second child, whom she named Barry, and we think she might be onto something: what incredible ’70s energy! Barry Gibb, Barry Manilow, Barry White, Barry Brown: so many musical Barrys! This ’70s baby name is Irish in origin and means “fair-haired.”

Short for “Regina” (another great name!), Gina was never crazy popular, but it was most popular in the ‘70s — it’s unique but classic without being stodgy. This name comes from the Latin name Regina, which means “queen.”

We clearly couldn’t put “Leia” on this list without also adding “Luke,” now could we? This Latin name means “light,” which is perfectly appropriate for our favorite “light side” Jedi.

Again, IDK how the name Cynthia ever fell down in the charts, but it did starting in the ’70s, which was kind of its last hurrah in the Top 50. The name comes from Greek and means “from Mount Cynthus,” but is associated with the dieties Artemis and Selene, so it can also mean “moon goddess.”

The name of Wendy was invented by Peter Pan writer J.M. Barrie and comes from the English habit of creating new names by rhyming existing ones. For example, Margaret became Meg which became Peg which became Peggy. Wendy is that but with the word “friend.” Though the name was introduced in 1904, it really found its stride in the 1970s.

Between the incredible Rocky movies and Rocky Horror Picture Show, this was apparently the name for muscle-y dudes in the ‘70s!

While it reached its height of popularity in the ’80s, Justin saw a meteoric rise in the ’70s. This Latin name means “just.”

This name was on the rise in the early-and-mid-’70s... that is until 1976... the year Carrie came out. For some reason people didn’t want to name their baby after a repressed teenager with psychic powers who set fire to her school before murdering her mother. Who’d have thought?

That said, Carrie a great name... and I think we have sufficient distance from the horror movie at this point to feel OK about it!

We’ve talked about kings and queens of the ‘70s and Freddie Mercury, frontman of Queen, was both. Funnily enough, that wasn’t the Zanzibanian singer’s real name — it was Farrokh Bulsara. Both Farrokh (Persian for “happy”) and Freddie (diminutive of Frederick, meaning “peaceful ruler” in German) are great options. We also love Freddie as a unisex name!

The Mary Tyler Moore spin-off series, Rhoda, followed Mary’s BFF on her own adventures. The name Rhoda, which means “rose,” never really caught on despite the popularity of the series, but it’s still a great ‘70s baby name to capture the spirit of the decade.

Whether you’re going after ‘70s vibes, when this name was quite popular, or you want to honor Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, this Scottish name, which means “from the battleground,” is a good choice.

Before she was Dorothy Zbornak on The Golden Girls, Bea Arthur was Maude, an outspokenly liberal middle-class suburbanite in a show of the same name. We love this “old lady name,” which has a great meaning in Old German: “mighty battler.”

Was anyone having a better ’70s than Faye Dunaway? And did anyone have a better name? Faye, which means “fairy,” has never been terribly popular, which makes it a unique name with distinct ’70s vibes.

Like Justin, the name Brandon didn’t reach the height of its popularity until the ’90s, but really began to pick up steam in the ’70s. The Old Irish name means “cheiftan,” but in Old Welsh it means “crow.”

To be sure, the ’70s was a decade of incredible movies, but we’re not sure if there was a better one than The Godfather (we’re counting Parts I and II as a single, perfect film, just FYI). Vito, which is Italian for “life,” is the first name of “The Godfather,” Don Corleone, played by Marlon Brando.

Look, if you give your child the ’70s name Adrian, will they be plagued with a lifetime of people shouting “YO ADRIAN?!” 10,000%. But this is the price of a great baby name.

Between Redford, DeNiro, Duvall, that’s what we’d call a ’70s Power Trifecta. Robert is an Ancient German name meaning “bright fame.”

Our Lady of Eternal Perfect, Miss Dolly Parton, was active before the ’70s, but didn’t reach a #1 hit until that decade. And, truly, there is no better icon to bless your child with than Dolly, which is a diminutive of Dolores, which means “sorrow.” You can also feel free to go with “Jolene” or “Joshua” (her first song to get to #1). We don’t recommend “Applejack,” but it’s your baby and we’re not the boss of you.

America’s Nice Guy President was in office from 1977 to 1981, so the name Carter automatically harkens to the ’70s

One of our favorite actors of all time first hit the scene in the ’70s. We’re speaking of course of comedic (and dramatic) genius Robin Williams. Though the name is a diminutive form of Robert (and therefore means “bright fame”), Robin is a beautiful and unique unisex name.

This name was not, in and of itself, popular in the ’70s, but our eternal heartthrob, Harrison Ford, certainly was. (Hell, you could also go with “Ford,” whether for the actor or the president, who was also having a moment in the ’70s...) This English name means “son of Harry.”

Between David Cassidy and Butch Cassidy (& the Sundance Kid), this unisex name of Cassidy has all kinds of ’70s energy. It is an Irish name and means “clever” or “curly haired.”

Shane never topped the charts, but it definitely had a moment in the ’70s, and we wouldn’t mind seeing more of it moving forward! It’s a variant of the Irish name Sean and means “god is gracious.”

This Norse name of Dustin means “Thor’s stone” which... pretty bad*ss. It wasn’t overwhelmingly popular in the ’70s, but catapulted onto baby name charts just around 1970 and quickly skipped into the Top 50 by the end of the decade.

As in Charlie’s most famous Angel, Farrah Fawcett! (Her character name, Jill, also works!) Farrah, like Harrison, Faye, and Barry, was having a helluva time in the ’70s. This name comes from Arabic and means “joy.”