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Most popular baby names of the 1980s

In the 1980s, the most popular name for girls born in the U.S. was Jessica, given to 469,510 girls, about 1 in 37 girls born that decade. For boys it was Michael, given to 663,807, about 1 in 28 boys.

Together, the top 20 girls’ names went to 26% of girls born in the 1980s, and the top 20 boys’ names to 36% of boys.

Top girls’ names

Top girls’ names of the 1980s
RankNameBabiesShare
#1Jessica469,5101 in 37
#2Jennifer440,9141 in 39
#3Amanda369,7271 in 46
#4Ashley352,1851 in 49
#5Sarah272,6371 in 63
#6Stephanie218,1731 in 79
#7Melissa217,9221 in 79
#8Nicole210,4941 in 82
#9Elizabeth198,9721 in 86
#10Heather191,8521 in 90
#11Tiffany158,6251 in 110
#12Michelle154,0271 in 110
#13Amber153,9511 in 110
#14Megan153,5001 in 110
#15Amy150,6621 in 110
#16Rachel146,6751 in 120
#17Kimberly146,4521 in 120
#18Christina146,0081 in 120
#19Lauren145,1611 in 120
#20Crystal141,0071 in 120

Top boys’ names

Top boys’ names of the 1980s
RankNameBabiesShare
#1Michael663,8071 in 28
#2Christopher554,8631 in 33
#3Matthew458,9511 in 40
#4Joshua396,5241 in 47
#5David383,6871 in 48
#6James356,4911 in 52
#7Daniel345,5371 in 53
#8Robert321,6551 in 57
#9John321,1501 in 57
#10Joseph299,4111 in 62
#11Jason292,1201 in 63
#12Justin289,8251 in 64
#13Andrew285,0741 in 65
#14Ryan278,9381 in 66
#15William248,2771 in 74
#16Brian233,9931 in 79
#17Brandon232,2061 in 79
#18Jonathan229,9531 in 80
#19Nicholas223,3081 in 83
#20Anthony211,8611 in 87

What changed

7 of the decade’s top 20 girls’ names were not in the top 20 of the 1970s: Ashley, Tiffany, Amber, Megan, Rachel, Lauren and Crystal. 8 of the decade’s top 20 boys’ names were not in the top 20 of the 1970s: Joshua, Justin, Andrew, Ryan, Brandon, Jonathan, Nicholas and Anthony.

Each table ranks names by how many babies of that sex got the name across the decade’s years in Social Security’s data, with the share of all babies of that sex it went to. A name links to its own page when it has one, with its births and rank in every year since 1880.

Source: the U.S. Social Security Administration’s national baby name data, from Social Security card applications for babies born in the U.S. A name is left out of a year when fewer than 5 babies of one sex got it, and counts before about 1937 are incomplete, because many people born then never applied for a card. See how Baby Boom builds its data. Figures may contain errors.