Top NZ Baby Names of 1972

Michelle (618) and Jason (1,025) were New Zealand's most registered names in 1972. Below are the top 50 girls' and boys' names for the year. See the whole 1970s for context.

Top 50 girls' names

  1. 1Michelle618
  2. 2Lisa597
  3. 3Rachel497
  4. 4Nicola480
  5. 5Joanne477
  6. 6Angela455
  7. 7Sarah449
  8. 8Tracey440
  9. 9Karen382
  10. 10Tania350
  11. 11Kelly330
  12. 12Kim294
  13. 13Amanda291
  14. 14Deborah291
  15. 15Andrea259
  16. 16Tracy259
  17. 17Fiona256
  18. 18Julie249
  19. 19Melanie238
  20. 20Rebecca235
  21. 21Vanessa228
  22. 22Donna222
  23. 23Paula222
  24. 24Megan218
  25. 25Susan216
  26. 26Catherine213
  27. 27Melissa213
  28. 28Sharon213
  29. 29Rachael203
  30. 30Jennifer202
  31. 31Jacqueline199
  32. 32Elizabeth192
  33. 33Rochelle192
  34. 34Christine191
  35. 35Wendy185
  36. 36Katrina184
  37. 37Helen181
  38. 38Leanne175
  39. 39Suzanne174
  40. 40Anna173
  41. 41Stephanie171
  42. 42Joanna170
  43. 43Kathryn168
  44. 44Jane167
  45. 45Victoria162
  46. 46Louise160
  47. 47Janine157
  48. 48Sandra149
  49. 49Natasha147
  50. 50Tina143

Top 50 boys' names

  1. 1Jason1,025
  2. 2Michael871
  3. 3David826
  4. 4Andrew812
  5. 5Paul755
  6. 6Craig725
  7. 7Mark717
  8. 8Aaron612
  9. 9Christopher608
  10. 10Richard561
  11. 11Matthew542
  12. 12Robert475
  13. 13John467
  14. 14Stephen462
  15. 15Scott400
  16. 16Peter394
  17. 17Simon390
  18. 18Shane375
  19. 19James374
  20. 20Steven326
  21. 21Anthony311
  22. 22Grant291
  23. 23Nicholas261
  24. 24Gregory257
  25. 25Wayne252
  26. 26Justin251
  27. 27Timothy232
  28. 28Daniel225
  29. 29William218
  30. 30Tony216
  31. 31Brent214
  32. 32Darren214
  33. 33Glenn210
  34. 34Glen209
  35. 35Brendon202
  36. 36Philip196
  37. 37Dean193
  38. 38Nigel193
  39. 39Jonathan188
  40. 40Brett172
  41. 41Karl170
  42. 42Kevin166
  43. 43Gavin157
  44. 44Jeremy155
  45. 45Nathan153
  46. 46Phillip142
  47. 47Stuart138
  48. 48Hamish135
  49. 49Adam129
  50. 50Carl129

About this data: figures come from Department of Internal Affairs birth registrations for 1954-2025. The DIA only publishes a name for a given year when at least 10 babies were registered with it, so rarer names - and rarer spellings - are missing entirely, and a name can drop out of the record in quieter years. Spelling variants are counted separately, and counts reflect first names as registered.