These were the hottest baby names in your state 50 years ago. Here’s where they rank now

(NEXSTAR) – If you are in your 50s, there’s a decent chance your name is one of three that topped the charts throughout the U.S. back in the 1970s. You may, however, have a hard time finding at least two of those names on newly printed Social Security cards.

The administration responsible for those cards has been tallying the names dolled, and provides much of that data for your own perusal. The Social Security Administration annually reports the 100 most common names for boys and girls born each year. It’s because of this that we know there will soon be Liams and Olivias in kindergarten classes everywhere, if they aren’t already.

It’s also how we know that, if you turned 50 last year, your name is likely Jennifer or Michael or Jason.

We looked back at SSA data to find the top boy and girl names of 1975 (since we don’t yet know the top names of 2026, we had to use the most recent data set available, released last year, for a 50-year review).

Among girls born in 1975 (and any year between 1970 and 1984), the most popular name was Jennifer. While the most common name in each state can vary, Jennifer made a clean sweep in 1975, beating out any other girls’ name in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The battle was not as simple among newborn boys.

SSA data shows that while Michael was the most common name for boys born in 1975 (and from 1961 to 1998), it was only the top name in 35 states and the District of Columbia. Jason claimed the No. 1 spot in 15 other states.

The map below shows how Michael and Jason divided the country in 1975:

While Michael didn’t win it all in 1975, it does outrank Jason and Jennifer overall.

Since 1926, the SSA reports , there have been over 4.3 million Michaels born in the U.S. There may be even more, because “many people born before 1937 never applied for a Social Security card.”

Michael stands as the second-most-common name of those born in the U.S., coming in roughly 200,000 shy of James. Among boys, Jason is the 26th-most popular name since 1926, having been bestowed upon more than 1.05 million newborns.

Slightly more girls – about 1.47 million total – born since 1926 have been named Jennifer. It ranks No. 3 between Mary (2.8 million) and Patricia (1.5 million).

To find the last time either Jason or Jennifer ranked within the top 100 names for a state, you have to go back at least a few years.

Nexstar reviewed SSA baby name data following the fall of Jason and Jennifer. More specifically, we followed both names in each state from their spike in the 1970s until the last consecutive year they ranked within the top 100 names for boys and girls, respectively.

By around the early to mid-2000s, both names began ranking outside the top 100 names at the state level.

Jennifer hasn’t cracked a state’s top 100 since 2012, when it was No. 97 in California and Texas. Jason hasn’t been in a state’s top 100 since 2021, when it ranked at No. 72 in Maryland and No. 97 in Florida, based on a review of SSA data by Nexstar.

The interactive table below shows the last consecutive year in which Jennifer and Jason were among the 100 most popular girl and boy names, respectively, in your state.

While they’ve experienced a decline in popularity, Jason and Jennifer still remain among the most common baby names. According to the SSA , Jason was the 126th-most popular name for boys in 2025. Jennifer was the 586th most common among girls.

There may be a reason why names rapidly lose prevalence. Baby-naming consultant Colleen Slagen of NamingBebe.com told Nexstar in 2024 that she encourages people to avoid trendy names.

For comparison, Michael came in at No. 21 among boy names used last year, a spot on the charts that it hasn’t reached since 1938 .

You can use the Social Security Administration’s lookup tool to view how popular (or unpopular) your name or names you’re considering for your baby have been.