How Many of Me

Most Popular First Names of the 1980s

The top first names registered in the United States between 1980 and 1989, ranked by total births recorded with the Social Security Administration. The sparkline for each name shows how it trended across the 10 years of the decade.

During this decade, the SSA recorded 10,477,617 male and 7,266,795 female births across the top 50 names shown below. Click any name for a full statistical profile.

1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s

How to read this table

Each name is ranked by total birth registrations across all 10 years of the 1980s. The Trend column shows a sparkline of annual births within the decade. Hover over any sparkline to see the exact count for each year.

The Change column compares the first year (1980) to the last year (1989). A positive percentage means the name was gaining popularity by the end of the decade. A negative one means it was on the decline.

Top Male Names

10,477,617 births across top 50

# Name Births Trend Change
1 Michael 663,824 -4.8%
2 Christopher 554,886 +8.4%
3 Matthew 458,953 +19.9%
4 Joshua 396,530 +22.3%
5 David 383,702 -15.9%
6 James 356,498 -16.8%
7 Daniel 345,559 +17.1%
8 Robert 321,672 -12.2%
9 John 321,161 -15.4%
10 Joseph 299,416 -1%
11 Jason 292,130 -73.8%
12 Justin 289,826 +22.8%
13 Andrew 285,094 +76.4%
14 Ryan 278,954 +14.6%
15 William 248,286 -3.8%
16 Brian 233,997 -36.9%
17 Brandon 232,206 +64.6%
18 Jonathan 229,959 +24.3%
19 Nicholas 223,320 +34.3%
20 Anthony 211,870 +38.7%
21 Eric 204,246 -16.1%
22 Adam 195,084 -10.3%
23 Kevin 188,685 +18%
24 Thomas 177,817 +5%
25 Steven 177,470 +18.9%
26 Timothy 172,834 -14.2%
27 Richard 154,750 -15.2%
28 Jeremy 153,414 -34.2%
29 Jeffrey 144,798 -26.7%
30 Kyle 141,950 +261.5%
31 Benjamin 141,385 +15.5%
32 Aaron 138,366 +16.3%
33 Charles 131,905 -18.1%
34 Mark 129,460 -20.1%
35 Jacob 124,263 +109.3%
36 Stephen 113,635 +16.6%
37 Patrick 111,417 +15.8%
38 Scott 108,149 -33.4%
39 Nathan 105,994 -2.1%
40 Paul 104,397 -23.6%
41 Sean 103,875 +56.5%
42 Travis 102,929 +7.1%
43 Zachary 101,830 +325.9%
44 Dustin 97,315 +15.4%
45 Gregory 93,668 -5.5%
46 Kenneth 89,118 -11%
47 Jose 86,645 +24.1%
48 Tyler 86,447 +494.4%
49 Jesse 85,915 +5.7%
50 Alexander 82,013 +342.8%

Top Female Names

7,266,795 births across top 50

# Name Births Trend Change
1 Jessica 469,518 +41.2%
2 Jennifer 440,916 -58.9%
3 Amanda 369,728 +2.9%
4 Ashley 352,185 +552.2%
5 Sarah 272,647 +7.9%
6 Stephanie 218,175 +27.6%
7 Melissa 217,929 -51.9%
8 Nicole 210,498 -4.4%
9 Elizabeth 198,977 +3.9%
10 Heather 191,854 -18.7%
11 Tiffany 158,625 -3.2%
12 Michelle 154,032 -30%
13 Amber 153,951 +33.5%
14 Megan 153,502 +116.6%
15 Amy 150,662 -55.1%
16 Rachel 146,678 +32.2%
17 Kimberly 146,453 -40.3%
18 Christina 146,011 -18.6%
19 Lauren 145,162 +181.7%
20 Crystal 141,009 -36.1%
21 Brittany 140,855 +2585.9%
22 Rebecca 136,243 -18.6%
23 Laura 134,611 -9.1%
24 Danielle 134,380 +73.7%
25 Emily 131,770 +92.4%
26 Samantha 121,126 +404.6%
27 Angela 116,594 -59.9%
28 Erin 115,811 -39.4%
29 Kelly 109,540 -36.1%
30 Sara 104,681 -12.9%
31 Lisa 102,617 -58%
32 Katherine 99,176 +42.4%
33 Andrea 98,264 -19.5%
34 Jamie 96,558 -40.6%
35 Mary 95,862 -24.7%
36 Erica 93,161 +3%
37 Courtney 84,310 +139.4%
38 Kristen 83,226 +20.3%
39 Shannon 78,421 -41.5%
40 April 75,948 -58.7%
41 Katie 72,880 +18.8%
42 Lindsey 71,941 +108.8%
43 Kristin 70,558 -21.3%
44 Lindsay 68,492 +26.9%
45 Christine 68,015 -13.4%
46 Alicia 66,966 +18.5%
47 Maria 65,776 -19.4%
48 Vanessa 65,728 +57.3%
49 Kathryn 62,445 +13.9%
50 Allison 62,328 +49.6%
1970s 1990s