Birth year
Born in 1974? Here's your year in charts
In 1974, the top baby names were Jennifer and Michael, unemployment averaged 5.6%, a newborn could expect to live 72.0 years, and the world had 3.99 billion people.
Top baby names of 1974
Girls
Boys
- 1. Michael 67,534 babies, 4.3% of boys
- 2. Jason 54,756 babies, 3.5% of boys
- 3. Christopher 48,585 babies, 3.1% of boys
- 4. David 41,786 babies, 2.7% of boys
- 5. James 41,334 babies, 2.6% of boys
From Social Security card applications for babies born in the U.S.; names given to fewer than 5 babies are left out. Pick a name to see how many babies got it every year since 1880.
1974 then vs. now
-
Unemployment rate
See the chart5.6% in 1974, compared with 4.2% in September 2026
Share of the labor force out of work, the year's average.
-
Life expectancy at birth
See the chart72.0 years in 1974, compared with 78.7 years in 2018
How long a baby born that year could expect to live, at that year's death rates.
-
People in the world
See the chart3.99 billion in 1974, compared with 8.22 billion in 2025
World population at mid-year.
Prices are in dollars of the day, not adjusted for inflation. A figure is left out when its chart doesn't cover 1974.
$100 in 1974 buys about as much as $683.33 in September 2026. Try the inflation calculator
Share this year
Try another year
Sources and dates
- Baby names: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications (national data) (Public domain (U.S. government work)), data as of December 31, 2025
- Unemployment rate: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey (Public domain (U.S. government work)), data as of September 30, 2026
- Life expectancy at birth: CDC National Center for Health Statistics, Death rates and life expectancy at birth (Public domain (U.S. government work)), data as of December 31, 2018
- People in the world: World Bank, World Development Indicators: Population, total (CC BY 4.0 (credit the World Bank)), data as of December 31, 2025