Name Legacy

Baby names in Arkansas, 1980s

1980–1989 · 279,168 recorded births

Christopher was the most common name given in Arkansas across the 1980s, with 5,391 births in the decade. The state recorded 279,168 births in total over those years.

Most distinctive to Arkansas in the 1980s

Names given far more often here than nationally in these years. The multiplier is conservative — it is the low end of the plausible range, so a name carried by a handful of births does not outrank one carried by hundreds.

NameBirthsvs national
Scotty133
Heath267
Rickey197
Billy692
Lashunda34
Bobby634
Donnie121
Earnest66

Top 25 in the 1980s

RankNameBirths
#1Christopher5,391
#2Joshua4,884
#3Michael4,825
#4James4,435
#5Jessica4,302
#6Ashley4,232
#7Amanda4,198
#8Jennifer3,909
#9Matthew3,815
#10Justin3,778
#11John3,294
#12Brandon3,232
#13David2,904
#14Jason2,834
#14William2,834
#16Robert2,780
#17Sarah2,719
#18Jonathan2,596
#19Jeremy2,513
#20Amber2,506
#21Joseph2,184
#22Daniel2,141
#23Tiffany2,087
#24Heather2,055
#25Stephanie1,872

Other decades in Arkansas

All Arkansas names, 2025

Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. State records begin in 1910. Names given to fewer than five babies in a state in a year are withheld at source. namelegacy.org