US baby names · the 1980s

Most popular baby names of the 1980s

These are the most given US names of the 1980s, adding up Social Security counts for each year from 1980 to 1989. Across those years SSA recorded 17,175,531 girls and 18,458,907 boys under names given to five or more babies.

Jessica led the girls with 469,510 babies, followed by Jennifer, Amanda and Ashley. For boys, Michael came first with 663,807, ahead of Christopher, Matthew and Joshua.

Against the top 100 of the 1970s, 34 girls’ names and 19 boys’ names in the 1980s are newcomers (girls: Ashley, Lauren, Brittany; boys: Zachary, Dustin, Tyler). Of these names, 8 of the 100 girls’ names and 28 of the 100 boys’ names are still in the top 100 in 2025.

A decade total favours names that were steady for ten years over a single-year spike, so a list here can differ from any one year’s top 100. The sparklines show each name before and after the 1980s.

SSA names.zip · Social Security card applications · retrieved 2026-10-05

← 1970s 1990s →

Top 100 girls’ names, 1980s

Rank	Name	Girls in decade
#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
#90	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 boys’ names, 1980s

Rank	Name	Boys in decade
#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