This list combines 2,654 spelling variations into 1,006 grouped names based on shared pronunciations. The most popular name in 1972 is Michael, given to 74,368 babies in total. Learn more about how this works.

Christopher has the most spelling variations with 33 different spellings, while Kristen has the highest confusion index at 81.2%, indicating the greatest diversity in how parents choose to spell it.

When combining spelling variations, Tori showed the biggest improvement, moving up 184 positions from 504 to 320, while Brent had the largest drop, falling 9 positions from 77 to 86.

Looking at trends, Jermaine shows the strongest upward momentum (births in 1970–1972 are 20255.56% higher compared to 1963–1972), while Bob shows the steepest decline (76.86% lower). Compared to 1971, Demond had the largest rank improvement, moving up 284 positions to rank #335, while Dirk fell 61 positions to rank #444.