Most Popular Baby Names of the 1980s

The top 100 names of the 1980s

Ranked by total births across the whole decade, not by any single year. Tap a column heading to sort. "Births" is the decade total.

Search within the top 100

No match in the top 100 of the 1980s.

Top 100 girl names of the 1980s

Top 100 girl names of the 1980s

1	Jessica	469,510
2	Jennifer	440,914
3	Amanda	369,727
4	Ashley	352,185
5	Sarah	272,637
6	Stephanie	218,173
7	Melissa	217,922
8	Nicole	210,494
9	Elizabeth	198,972
10	Heather	191,852
11	Tiffany	158,625
12	Michelle	154,027
13	Amber	153,951
14	Megan	153,500
15	Amy	150,659
16	Rachel	146,675
17	Kimberly	146,452
18	Christina	146,008
19	Lauren	145,146
20	Crystal	141,007
21	Brittany	140,811
22	Rebecca	136,248
23	Laura	134,608
24	Danielle	134,379
25	Emily	131,764
26	Samantha	121,124
27	Angela	116,595
28	Erin	115,811
29	Kelly	109,539
30	Sara	104,682
31	Lisa	102,610
32	Katherine	99,175
33	Andrea	98,263
34	Jamie	96,555
35	Mary	95,862
36	Erica	93,159
37	Courtney	84,309
38	Kristen	83,228
39	Shannon	78,420
40	April	75,950
41	Katie	72,876
42	Lindsey	71,936
43	Kristin	70,556
44	Lindsay	68,487
45	Christine	68,016
46	Alicia	66,963
47	Maria	65,761
48	Vanessa	65,712
49	Kathryn	62,443
50	Allison	62,324
51	Julie	61,679
52	Anna	57,324
53	Tara	56,336
54	Kayla	55,166
55	Natalie	54,409
56	Victoria	53,263
57	Monica	51,832
58	Jacqueline	51,536
59	Holly	49,651
60	Kristina	45,934
61	Patricia	45,105
62	Cassandra	44,895
63	Brandy	44,480
64	Whitney	44,282
65	Chelsea	43,026
66	Brandi	42,838
67	Catherine	42,432
68	Cynthia	41,579
69	Kathleen	39,384
70	Veronica	39,072
71	Leslie	38,696
72	Natasha	38,190
73	Krystal	37,462
74	Stacy	36,948
75	Erika	36,827
76	Diana	36,790
77	Dana	36,760
78	Jenna	36,494
79	Meghan	36,175
80	Carrie	36,044
81	Leah	36,043
82	Melanie	35,922
83	Brooke	34,955
84	Karen	34,889
85	Alexandra	34,672
86	Valerie	34,597
87	Caitlin	33,410
88	Julia	33,314
89	Alyssa	32,846
90	Jasmine	32,819
91	Hannah	32,628
92	Stacey	32,107
93	Brittney	31,379
94	Susan	30,506
95	Margaret	30,315
96	Sandra	29,943
97	Candice	29,736
98	Latoya	29,327
99	Bethany	29,291
100	Misty	29,010

Based on 0 girls counted in the published data for 1980–1989.

Top 100 boy names of the 1980s

Top 100 boy names of the 1980s

1	Michael	663,807
2	Christopher	554,863
3	Matthew	458,951
4	Joshua	396,524
5	David	383,687
6	James	356,491
7	Daniel	345,537
8	Robert	321,655
9	John	321,150
10	Joseph	299,411
11	Jason	292,120
12	Justin	289,825
13	Andrew	285,074
14	Ryan	278,938
15	William	248,277
16	Brian	233,993
17	Brandon	232,206
18	Jonathan	229,953
19	Nicholas	223,308
20	Anthony	211,861
21	Eric	204,230
22	Adam	195,086
23	Kevin	188,670
24	Thomas	177,817
25	Steven	177,454
26	Timothy	172,835
27	Richard	154,745
28	Jeremy	153,413
29	Jeffrey	144,789
30	Kyle	141,947
31	Benjamin	141,366
32	Aaron	138,357
33	Charles	131,902
34	Mark	129,442
35	Jacob	124,254
36	Stephen	113,631
37	Patrick	111,408
38	Scott	108,144
39	Nathan	105,987
40	Paul	104,397
41	Sean	103,870
42	Travis	102,923
43	Zachary	101,818
44	Dustin	97,307
45	Gregory	93,655
46	Kenneth	89,110
47	Tyler	86,439
48	Jose	86,422
49	Jesse	85,908
50	Alexander	81,999
51	Bryan	80,499
52	Samuel	73,456
53	Derek	72,923
54	Bradley	69,347
55	Chad	69,040
56	Shawn	65,598
57	Edward	60,811
58	Jared	60,308
59	Cody	60,200
60	Jordan	57,154
61	Peter	56,709
62	Corey	53,598
63	Keith	52,640
64	Marcus	51,762
65	Juan	51,255
66	Donald	50,830
67	Ronald	46,645
68	Phillip	45,688
69	George	45,677
70	Cory	44,352
71	Joel	43,551
72	Shane	43,160
73	Douglas	41,746
74	Raymond	41,478
75	Antonio	41,452
76	Carlos	41,359
77	Brett	41,283
78	Gary	40,207
79	Alex	38,665
80	Nathaniel	38,645
81	Craig	38,091
82	Ian	37,762
83	Luis	37,163
84	Erik	36,334
85	Derrick	36,252
86	Casey	35,938
87	Philip	35,723
88	Frank	33,514
89	Evan	32,467
90	Gabriel	32,238
91	Victor	32,136
92	Vincent	31,924
93	Austin	31,236
94	Brent	31,231
95	Larry	31,140
96	Seth	31,114
97	Wesley	31,032
98	Dennis	30,397
99	Todd	30,302
100	Christian	30,168

Based on 0 boys counted in the published data for 1980–1989.

The #1 name of each year

Which name led the country in each year of the 1980s.

Number one girl and boy name, 1980s
Year	#1 girl name (births)	#1 boy name (births)
1980	Jennifer (58,374)	Michael (68,683)
1981	Jennifer (57,046)	Michael (68,750)
1982	Jennifer (57,120)	Michael (68,216)
1983	Jennifer (54,353)	Michael (68,004)
1984	Jennifer (50,564)	Michael (67,735)
1985	Jessica (48,345)	Michael (64,934)
1986	Jessica (52,682)	Michael (64,235)
1987	Jessica (55,992)	Michael (63,664)
1988	Jessica (51,556)	Michael (64,171)
1989	Jessica (47,887)	Michael (65,415)

How the decade is counted

A decade total adds up every published birth for a name across all ten years (or, for the 2020s, 2020 to 2025), for the 50 states and DC. A name that was #1 for one huge year but quiet the rest of the decade will not beat a name that stayed near the top all decade. Names given to fewer than 5 babies in a state in a year are not published by SSA, so decade totals are slightly smaller than true births.

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Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, baby names data, births in 2025, released May 2026. Data checked 8 November 2026. ssa.gov baby names.