The list of the most popular baby names in the U.S. 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
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Jennifer
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Michelle
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Lisa
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Kimberly
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Amy
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Angela
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Melissa
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Stephanie
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Heather
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Nicole
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Tammy
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Julie
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Mary
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Rebecca
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Elizabeth
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Christine
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Laura
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Tina
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Tracy
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Dawn
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Karen
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Shannon
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Kelly
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Susan
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Christina
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Cynthia
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Patricia
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Lori
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Wendy
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Andrea
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Sandra
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Maria
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Stacy
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Pamela
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Denise
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Michele
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Tonya
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Tara
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Teresa
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Rachel
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Stacey
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Melanie
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Deborah
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Brenda
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Donna
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Jessica
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Monica
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April
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Sarah
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Sharon
Boys
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Michael
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Christopher
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James
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David
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John
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Robert
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Jason
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Brian
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William
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Matthew
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Scott
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Joseph
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Kevin
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Richard
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Daniel
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Eric
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Jeffrey
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Mark
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Steven
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Thomas
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Timothy
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Anthony
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Charles
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Paul
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Chad
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Gregory
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Kenneth
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Shawn
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Stephen
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Andrew
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Todd
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Ronald
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Sean
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Edward
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Patrick
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Donald
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Jonathan
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Keith
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Ryan
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Aaron
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Gary
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Jeremy
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Douglas
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George
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Bryan
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Craig
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Larry
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Peter
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Troy
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Jose