Most Popular Baby Names of the 1980s
Top 100 girl and boy names, Social Security records, 1980 to 1989
Jessica and Michael were the most popular baby names of the 1980s: 469,510 girls were named Jessica and 663,807 boys Michael from 1980 to 1989. The tables rank the 100 names given to the most babies of each sex, out of 24,327 girl names and 14,272 boy names in the records for those years. Social Security lists a name in a year only when at least 5 babies of one sex got it.
Year by Year
The top 100 girl and boy names of each year of the 1980s, with what changed from the year before.
Top 100 Girl Names, 1980 to 1989
| # | Name | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | 150,662 |
| 16 | Rachel | 146,675 |
| 17 | Kimberly | 146,452 |
| 18 | Christina | 146,008 |
| 19 | Lauren | 145,161 |
| 20 | Crystal | 141,007 |
| 21 | Brittany | 140,854 |
| 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 | 96,556 |
| 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 | 72,883 |
| 42 | Lindsey | 71,940 |
| 43 | Kristin | 70,558 |
| 44 | Lindsay | 68,491 |
| 45 | Christine | 68,016 |
| 46 | Alicia | 66,966 |
| 47 | Maria | 65,778 |
| 48 | Vanessa | 65,731 |
| 49 | Kathryn | 62,443 |
| 50 | Allison | 62,327 |
| 51 | Julie | 61,682 |
| 52 | Anna | 57,327 |
| 53 | Tara | 56,338 |
| 54 | Kayla | 55,291 |
| 55 | Natalie | 54,428 |
| 56 | Victoria | 53,272 |
| 57 | Monica | 51,863 |
| 58 | Jacqueline | 51,561 |
| 59 | Holly | 49,653 |
| 60 | Kristina | 45,947 |
| 61 | Patricia | 45,127 |
| 62 | Cassandra | 44,911 |
| 63 | Brandy | 44,527 |
| 64 | Whitney | 44,373 |
| 65 | Chelsea | 43,163 |
| 66 | Brandi | 42,890 |
| 67 | Catherine | 42,437 |
| 68 | Cynthia | 41,666 |
| 69 | Kathleen | 39,394 |
| 70 | Veronica | 39,231 |
| 71 | Leslie | 38,729 |
| 72 | Natasha | 38,213 |
| 73 | Krystal | 37,496 |
| 74 | Stacy | 36,990 |
| 75 | Diana | 36,904 |
| 76 | Erika | 36,852 |
| 77 | Dana | 36,826 |
| 78 | Jenna | 36,601 |
| 79 | Meghan | 36,206 |
| 80 | Carrie | 36,079 |
| 81 | Leah | 36,056 |
| 82 | Melanie | 35,952 |
| 83 | Brooke | 34,977 |
| 84 | Karen | 34,914 |
| 85 | Alexandra | 34,817 |
| 86 | Valerie | 34,629 |
| 87 | Caitlin | 33,584 |
| 88 | Julia | 33,354 |
| 89 | Alyssa | 32,952 |
| 89 | Jasmine | 32,952 |
| 91 | Hannah | 32,702 |
| 92 | Stacey | 32,138 |
| 93 | Brittney | 31,532 |
| 94 | Susan | 30,549 |
| 95 | Margaret | 30,352 |
| 96 | Sandra | 30,048 |
| 97 | Candice | 29,847 |
| 98 | Latoya | 29,537 |
| 99 | Bethany | 29,331 |
| 100 | Misty | 29,114 |
Top 100 Boy Names, 1980 to 1989
| # | Name | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | 102,927 |
| 43 | Zachary | 101,818 |
| 44 | Dustin | 97,314 |
| 45 | Gregory | 93,655 |
| 46 | Kenneth | 89,110 |
| 47 | Jose | 86,647 |
| 48 | Tyler | 86,451 |
| 49 | Jesse | 85,908 |
| 50 | Alexander | 82,010 |
| 51 | Bryan | 80,502 |
| 52 | Samuel | 73,456 |
| 53 | Derek | 72,923 |
| 54 | Bradley | 69,352 |
| 55 | Chad | 69,051 |
| 56 | Shawn | 65,598 |
| 57 | Edward | 60,832 |
| 58 | Jared | 60,308 |
| 59 | Cody | 60,289 |
| 60 | Jordan | 57,172 |
| 61 | Peter | 56,713 |
| 62 | Corey | 53,598 |
| 63 | Keith | 52,647 |
| 64 | Marcus | 51,807 |
| 65 | Juan | 51,447 |
| 66 | Donald | 50,843 |
| 67 | Ronald | 46,670 |
| 68 | George | 45,712 |
| 69 | Phillip | 45,707 |
| 70 | Cory | 44,358 |
| 71 | Joel | 43,566 |
| 72 | Shane | 43,169 |
| 73 | Douglas | 41,746 |
| 74 | Antonio | 41,616 |
| 75 | Carlos | 41,506 |
| 76 | Raymond | 41,504 |
| 77 | Brett | 41,289 |
| 78 | Gary | 40,230 |
| 79 | Alex | 38,712 |
| 80 | Nathaniel | 38,652 |
| 81 | Craig | 38,095 |
| 82 | Ian | 37,770 |
| 83 | Luis | 37,447 |
| 84 | Erik | 36,350 |
| 85 | Derrick | 36,342 |
| 86 | Casey | 35,968 |
| 87 | Philip | 35,733 |
| 88 | Frank | 33,590 |
| 89 | Evan | 32,484 |
| 90 | Gabriel | 32,320 |
| 91 | Victor | 32,286 |
| 92 | Vincent | 32,054 |
| 93 | Austin | 31,307 |
| 94 | Brent | 31,279 |
| 95 | Larry | 31,278 |
| 96 | Seth | 31,129 |
| 97 | Wesley | 31,088 |
| 98 | Dennis | 30,463 |
| 99 | Todd | 30,325 |
| 100 | Christian | 30,289 |
Open a name to see how many people with it are alive today. To compare decades, pick another one above, or read the guide Most Popular Names by Decade.