State roster

Top names in California

The names most likely to appear on 1979 California birth certificates, ranked by SSA state records. The SSA recorded 343,070 California births in 1979 across 3,896 distinct names.

Distinctively California

Names that rank far higher here than they do nationally — the ones that say California more than they say America.

#51Claudiaoutside the national top 200
#58Angelicaoutside the national top 200
#63Gabrielaoutside the national top 200
#66Soniaoutside the national top 200
#65Alejandro#197 nationally
#70Adrianaoutside the national top 200
#73Leticiaoutside the national top 200
#77Anaoutside the national top 200
#79Fernandooutside the national top 200
#85Rosaoutside the national top 200
#55Desiree#170 nationally
#87Javieroutside the national top 200

Girls

#1Jennifer5,461US #1
#2Melissa3,006US #2
#3Jessica2,543US #4
#4Michelle2,428US #10
#5Nicole2,212US #9
#6Sarah2,118US #6
#7Maria2,030US #37
#8Christina2,008US #14
#9Elizabeth1,927US #11
#10Lisa1,750US #13
#11Heather1,614US #7
#12Amanda1,611US #3
#13Angela1,500US #8
#14Stephanie1,392US #15
#15Kimberly1,378US #12
#16Amy1,373US #5
#17Amber1,361US #22
#18Monica1,236US #40
#19Rebecca1,232US #17
#20Laura1,218US #20
#21Veronica1,210US #76
#22Kelly1,148US #16
#23Andrea1,140US #26
#24Jamie1,076US #19
#25Erin1,028US #21
#26Crystal996US #18
#27Shannon991US #25
#28Sara950US #30
#29Rachel933US #27
#30Erica919US #32
#31Christine913US #35
#32Julie889US #29
#33Patricia888US #44
#34Vanessa867US #75
#35Tiffany833US #28
#36April832US #23
#37Danielle830US #33
#38Sandra814US #77
#39Mary806US #24
#40Cynthia800US #55
#41Alicia794US #47
#42Megan745US #31
#43Katherine659US #36
#44Emily657US #34
#45Nancy641US #107
#46Diana632US #111
#47Erika629US #91
#48Natalie614US #68
#49Wendy585US #64
#50Anna525US #59
#51Claudia509
#52Kristina502US #74
#53Karen490US #46
#54Valerie477US #89
#55Desiree463US #170
#56Monique463US #141
#57Brandy462US #39
#58Angelica458
#59Kathryn445US #50
#60Gina439US #96
#61Stacy435US #43
#62Teresa433US #87
#63Gabriela432
#64Tracy431US #49
#65Carrie430US #41
#66Sonia425
#67Brenda421US #112
#68Jacqueline420US #80
#69Lauren419US #45
#70Adriana418
#71Denise414US #92
#72Susan409US #51
#73Leticia403
#74Leslie402US #65
#75Tara400US #38
#76Melanie397US #53
#77Ana388
#78Dawn386US #57
#79Sabrina386US #106
#80Julia384US #122
#81Kristen384US #62
#82Samantha384US #66
#83Linda383US #114
#84Kristin380US #73
#85Rosa374
#86Victoria374US #119
#87Misty368US #42
#88Jaime366US #97
#89Tina364US #58
#90Stacey363US #60
#91Cindy362US #136
#92Allison359US #70
#93Courtney357US #71
#94Holly350US #48
#95Renee350US #101
#96Katie344US #63
#97Catherine342US #78
#98Tanya335US #93
#99Heidi333US #83
#100Lorena332

Boys

#1Michael6,586US #1
#2David4,877US #4
#3Christopher4,717US #2
#4Jason4,065US #3
#5Daniel3,554US #12
#6Robert3,458US #8
#7John3,019US #7
#8Matthew3,011US #6
#9James2,978US #5
#10Ryan2,899US #14
#11Joshua2,895US #9
#12Jose2,682US #44
#13Brian2,662US #10
#14Joseph2,618US #11
#15Eric2,080US #17
#16Nicholas2,080US #15
#17Anthony2,074US #21
#18Richard2,058US #25
#19Steven1,838US #27
#20William1,699US #13
#21Kevin1,688US #19
#22Jeffrey1,630US #24
#23Juan1,602US #61
#24Justin1,578US #22
#25Andrew1,552US #20
#26Adam1,445US #23
#27Jeremy1,433US #16
#28Aaron1,417US #32
#29Timothy1,409US #18
#30Scott1,325US #29
#31Jonathan1,293US #31
#32Mark1,282US #30
#33Paul1,271US #34
#34Thomas1,237US #26
#35Brandon1,150US #35
#36Benjamin1,120US #33
#37Carlos1,102US #73
#38Charles1,008US #28
#39Sean949US #49
#40Jesus945US #112
#41Nathan937US #37
#42Jesse880US #50
#43Jorge857US #134
#44Patrick854US #39
#45Gregory826US #42
#46Kenneth824US #41
#47Edward814US #48
#48Gabriel813US #90
#49Stephen802US #40
#50Luis797US #102
#51Jacob779US #45
#52Erik763US #66
#53Bryan755US #46
#54Manuel742US #140
#55Victor707US #105
#56Miguel694US #137
#57Francisco684US #154
#58Ricardo678US #130
#59Mario665US #103
#60Peter658US #53
#61Raymond638US #70
#62Travis635US #36
#63Samuel628US #55
#64Antonio609US #79
#65Alejandro591US #197
#66Shawn583US #43
#67Chad579US #38
#68Roberto566US #155
#69George535US #57
#70Frank534US #78
#71Jaime526US #178
#72Oscar525US #184
#73Ruben507US #172
#74Ronald501US #54
#75Donald500US #51
#76Hector489US #167
#77Joel489US #71
#78Alexander472US #94
#79Fernando465
#80Dustin456US #62
#81Phillip456US #68
#82Shaun453US #64
#83Jared451US #65
#84Kyle435US #56
#85Adrian433US #113
#86Keith430US #52
#87Javier428
#88Gary424US #59
#89Raul424
#90Armando422
#91Eduardo406
#92Zachary403US #74
#93Jeremiah393US #81
#94Douglas385US #58
#95Sergio379
#96Vincent378US #109
#97Cesar377
#98Shane372US #67
#99Dennis358US #75
#100Ian358US #107

On the move since 1978

Rising

↑29Monique#56
↑25Kathryn#59
↑22Sonia#66
↑20Adriana#70
↑14Hector#76
↑12Jacqueline#68
↑12Jared#83
↑11Jorge#43

Falling

↓25Tanya#98
↓23Tina#89
↓21Shaun#82
↓19Sabrina#79
↓17Melanie#76
↓16Carrie#65
↓16Jaime#88
↓14Denise#71

Every state

State-level SSA records cover 1910–2024 — a shorter window than the national archive, which runs back to 1880. See 1978 rankings.