The list of the most popular baby names in the US doesn’t vary much from year to year, but when you look back over time, you’ll notice some interesting shifts.
Thanks to the Social Security Administration’s baby names database, it’s possible to see parents’ top picks going back to the 1880s and compare them to the trends today. We decided to do this with the most popular names 50 years ago.
While some names that made the list back then remain popular today (think classics like William, James, Elizabeth and Michael), others have dropped significantly down in the ranking (shout-out to Tammy, Lisa, Dawn, Chad and Craig). And, of course, Karen has certainly had a fall from grace.
Still, perhaps some of these names that dominated half a century ago are ripe for a comeback.
Below, find the 50 most popular baby names for boys and girls born in 1972.
Girls
Jennifer
Michelle
Lisa
Kimberly
Amy
Angela
Melissa
Stephanie
Heather
Nicole
Tammy
Julie
Mary
Rebecca
Elizabeth
Christine
Laura
Tina
Tracy
Dawn
Karen
Shannon
Kelly
Susan
Christina
Cynthia
Patricia
Lori
Wendy
Andrea
Sandra
Maria
Stacy
Pamela
Denise
Michele
Tonya
Tara
Teresa
Rachel
Stacey
Melanie
Deborah
Brenda
Donna
Jessica
Monica
April
Sarah
Sharon
Boys
Michael
Christopher
James
David
John
Robert
Jason
Brian
William
Matthew
Scott
Joseph
Kevin
Richard
Daniel
Eric
Jeffrey
Mark
Steven
Thomas
Timothy
Anthony
Charles
Paul
Chad
Gregory
Kenneth
Shawn
Stephen
Andrew
Todd
Ronald
Sean
Edward
Patrick
Donald
Jonathan
Keith
Ryan
Aaron
Gary
Jeremy
Douglas
George
Bryan
Craig
Larry
Peter
Troy
Jose