Name Legacy

Baby names of the 1980s

1980–1989 · United States

Jessica was the most common girls’ name of the 1980s with 469,510 births, and Michael the most common boys’ name with 663,807.

Top 50 girls’ names of the 1980s

#NameBirths
1Jessica469,510
2Jennifer440,914
3Amanda369,727
4Ashley352,185
5Sarah272,637
6Stephanie218,173
7Melissa217,922
8Nicole210,494
9Elizabeth198,972
10Heather191,852
11Tiffany158,625
12Michelle154,027
13Amber153,951
14Megan153,500
15Amy150,662
16Rachel146,675
17Kimberly146,452
18Christina146,008
19Lauren145,161
20Crystal141,007
21Brittany140,854
22Rebecca136,248
23Laura134,608
24Danielle134,379
25Emily131,764
26Samantha121,124
27Angela116,595
28Erin115,811
29Kelly109,539
30Sara104,682
31Lisa102,610
32Katherine99,175
33Andrea98,263
34Jamie96,556
35Mary95,862
36Erica93,159
37Courtney84,309
38Kristen83,228
39Shannon78,420
40April75,950
41Katie72,883
42Lindsey71,940
43Kristin70,558
44Lindsay68,491
45Christine68,016
46Alicia66,966
47Maria65,778
48Vanessa65,731
49Kathryn62,443
50Allison62,327

Top 50 boys’ names of the 1980s

#NameBirths
1Michael663,807
2Christopher554,863
3Matthew458,951
4Joshua396,524
5David383,687
6James356,491
7Daniel345,537
8Robert321,655
9John321,150
10Joseph299,411
11Jason292,120
12Justin289,825
13Andrew285,074
14Ryan278,938
15William248,277
16Brian233,993
17Brandon232,206
18Jonathan229,953
19Nicholas223,308
20Anthony211,861
21Eric204,230
22Adam195,086
23Kevin188,670
24Thomas177,817
25Steven177,454
26Timothy172,835
27Richard154,745
28Jeremy153,413
29Jeffrey144,789
30Kyle141,947
31Benjamin141,366
32Aaron138,357
33Charles131,902
34Mark129,442
35Jacob124,254
36Stephen113,631
37Patrick111,408
38Scott108,144
39Nathan105,987
40Paul104,397
41Sean103,870
42Travis102,927
43Zachary101,818
44Dustin97,314
45Gregory93,655
46Kenneth89,110
47Jose86,647
48Tyler86,451
49Jesse85,908
50Alexander82,010

Other decades

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Chart any name across all 146 years

Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880-2025. Names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld at source. namelegacy.org