This list combines 4,712 spelling variations into 1,000 grouped names based on shared pronunciations. The most popular name in 1972 is Michael, given to 74,996 babies in total. Learn more about how this works.

Christopher has the most spelling variations with 33 different spellings, while Karianne has the highest confusion index at 91.7%, indicating the greatest diversity in how parents choose to spell it.

When combining spelling variations, Charisse showed the biggest improvement, moving up 505 positions from 975 to 470, while Veronica had the largest drop, falling 29 positions from 157 to 186.

Looking at trends, Katina shows the strongest upward momentum (births in 1970–1972 are 2507.88% higher compared to 1963–1972), while Bob shows the steepest decline (76.8% lower). Compared to 1971, Katina had the largest rank improvement, moving up 748 positions to rank #161, while Geraldine fell 125 positions to rank #770.