Back in 1997, the western U.S. state of Colorado welcomed 56,505 babies.
What were the most popular names among these babies? Hannah and Jacob, according to data from the Health Statistics Section of Colorado’s Department of Public Health and Environment.
The state also revealed the top names within each of its three largest racial/ethnic groups, which it defined as “White/non-Hispanic,” “White/Hispanic,” and “Black.”
| Number of babies | Top girl name | Top boy name | |
| White/non-Hispanic | 38,729 (69%) | Hannah | Jacob |
| White/Hispanic | 12,951 (23%) | Jessica | Jose |
| Black | 2,582 (5%) | Jasmine | Isaiah |
Here are Colorado’s top 50 girl names (overall) and top 50 boy names (overall) of 1997:
Girl names
- Hannah
- Emily
- Jessica
- Sarah
- Madison
- Samantha
- Taylor
- Alexandra
- Ashley
- Megan
- Elizabeth
- Rachel
- Alyssa
- Alexis
- Lauren
- Emma
- Kayla
- Morgan
- Amanda
- Brianna
- Jennifer
- Jordan
- Abigail
- Victoria
- Nicole
- Brittany
- Rebecca
- Danielle
- Katherine
- Sierra
- Anna
- Mariah
- Olivia
- Amber
- Sydney
- Stephanie
- Jasmine
- Brooke
- Haley
- Maria
- Kaitlyn
- Gabrielle
- Savannah
- Allison
- Marissa
- Bailey
- Courtney
- Sara
- Erin
- Mackenzie
Boy names
- Jacob
- Michael
- Matthew
- Joshua
- Austin
- Tyler
- Andrew
- Christopher
- Nicholas
- Brandon
- Daniel
- Ryan
- Joseph
- Zachary
- David
- Alexander
- Anthony
- John
- James
- Benjamin
- Kyle
- Samuel
- William
- Justin
- Jonathan
- Dylan
- Christian
- Jordan
- Cody
- Robert
- Nathan
- Aaron
- Thomas
- Eric
- Connor
- Cameron
- Jose
- Noah
- Adam
- Logan
- Isaiah
- Sean
- Gabriel
- Caleb
- Jack
- Cole
- Kevin
- Trevor
- Ethan
- Ian
How do these rankings stack up against the U.S. Social Security Administration’s 1997 rankings for Colorado?
The boy names look similar, but there are two significant discrepancies among the girl names: Alexandra ranked 11 spots lower (19th vs. 8th) and Gabrielle ranked 33 spots lower (75th vs. 42nd) on the federal government’s list.
Other names bestowed in Colorado in 1997 included “Elway, Jamaica, and Mars for baby boys, and October, November, Paradise, and Rejoice for baby girls.”
Elway was no doubt inspired by John Elway, the longtime Denver Broncos quarterback who was about to lead the team to its first Super Bowl victory (in January of 1998).
Speaking of Colorado baby names with historical significance…here are posts about Denver (b. 1859), Colorado (b. 1859), Salida (b. 1881), and Silver Dollar (b. 1889).
Source: Birth Statistics Summary 1997 – Colorado Health and Environmental Data (pdf)
Image: Adapted from Flag of Colorado (public domain)
