Name Legacy

Baby names in West Virginia, 1980s

1980–1989 · 218,910 recorded births

Joshua was the most common name given in West Virginia across the 1980s, with 5,122 births in the decade. The state recorded 218,910 births in total over those years.

Most distinctive to West Virginia 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
Okey5
Lora109
Roger412
Trista111
Kala64
Misty572
Scottie41
Chasity150

Top 25 in the 1980s

RankNameBirths
#1Joshua5,122
#2Jessica4,527
#3Christopher4,431
#4Amanda4,369
#5Michael4,328
#6Matthew3,744
#7James3,675
#8Ashley3,536
#9Justin3,376
#10Jennifer3,313
#11David2,968
#12Jason2,951
#13Robert2,710
#14John2,705
#15Sarah2,410
#16William2,393
#17Joseph2,298
#18Brandon2,265
#19Heather2,069
#20Jeremy2,031
#21Jonathan1,976
#22Andrew1,907
#23Amber1,893
#24Adam1,885
#25Daniel1,762

Other decades in West Virginia

All West Virginia 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