1980s Baby Names

9,885 names were given to children in the United States between 1980 and 1989, ranked below by how many.

A name's place is its total across those ten years. Names that appear in only some of the decade say so, because a name recorded once is a different fact from one recorded every year.

All Girls Boys Unisex

Rankings for

#1
Michael Michael is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "who is like God?" — a rhetorical question expecting the answer that no one is.
669,009 in the 1980s
#2
Christopher Christopher is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "bearer of Christ," from Christos and pherein, to carry.
558,503 in the 1980s
#4
Matthew Matthew is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "gift of Yahweh," from Mattityahu.
461,518 in the 1980s
#6
Joshua Joshua is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "Yahweh is salvation," from Yehoshua.
399,085 in the 1980s
#7
David David is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "beloved," from Dawid.
386,222 in the 1980s
#9
James James is a boy's name of Hebrew origin, an English form of Jacob by way of Late Latin Iacomus.
359,097 in the 1980s
#11
Daniel Daniel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my judge," from Daniyyel.
348,066 in the 1980s
#12
Robert Robert is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "bright fame," from hrod, fame, and beraht, bright.
323,861 in the 1980s
#13
John John is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "Yahweh is gracious," from Yochanan.
323,285 in the 1980s
#14
Joseph Joseph is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add," from Yosef.
301,405 in the 1980s
#15
Jason Jason is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "healer."
293,983 in the 1980s
#16
Justin Justin is a boy's name from the Latin for just or righteous.
291,884 in the 1980s
#17
Andrew Andrew is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "manly" or "brave," from andreios, from aner, a man.
286,782 in the 1980s
#18
Ryan Ryan is a boy's name of Irish origin, anglicized from Ó Riain.
285,116 in the 1980s
#20
William William is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "resolute protection," from wil, meaning will or desire, and helm, meaning helmet.
249,961 in the 1980s
#21
Brian Brian is a boy's name of Irish origin whose meaning is unsettled — noble and high are both proposed, and neither is secure.
235,361 in the 1980s
#22
Brandon Brandon is a boy's name from an English place name meaning broom-covered hill, often confused with the Irish Brendan.
234,305 in the 1980s
#23
Jonathan Jonathan is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "Yahweh has given," from Yehonatan.
231,536 in the 1980s
#24
Nicholas Nicholas is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "victory of the people," from nike, victory, and laos, the people.
224,702 in the 1980s
#27
Anthony Anthony is a boy's name from the Roman family name Antonius, whose meaning is genuinely unknown — it is probably Etruscan rather than Latin.
213,523 in the 1980s
#29
Eric Eric is a boy's name of Old Norse origin meaning "eternal ruler" or "sole ruler."
205,707 in the 1980s
#31
Adam Adam is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "earth" or "ground," from adamah.
196,102 in the 1980s
#33
Kevin Kevin is a boy's name of Irish origin meaning "gentle birth," and its saint founded Glendalough and by tradition lived to 120.
189,934 in the 1980s
#34
Thomas Thomas is a boy's name of Aramaic origin meaning "twin," from te'oma.
178,967 in the 1980s
#35
Steven Steven is a boy's name from the Greek for crown or garland, and the phonetic respelling of Stephen.
178,622 in the 1980s
#36
Timothy Timothy is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "honoring God."
174,003 in the 1980s
#38
Richard Richard is a boy's name from Germanic roots meaning strong or brave ruler.
155,875 in the 1980s
#41
Jeremy Jeremy is a boy's name, the medieval English form of Jeremiah, from a Hebrew name generally read as God will exalt.
154,428 in the 1980s
#48
Jeffrey Jeffrey is a boy's name from Germanic roots whose first element is genuinely disputed, though the second means peace.
145,673 in the 1980s
#49
Kyle Kyle is a boy's name of Scottish Gaelic origin meaning "narrow strait," taken from a district of Ayrshire.
144,366 in the 1980s
#50
Benjamin Benjamin is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "son of the right hand," from Binyamin.
142,164 in the 1980s
#53
Aaron Aaron is a boy's name of Hebrew origin whose meaning is not established.
139,788 in the 1980s
#57
Charles Charles is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "free man," from karl.
132,901 in the 1980s
#59
Mark Mark is a boy's name of Latin origin, most likely meaning "of Mars," borne by the evangelist who wrote the earliest gospel.
130,249 in the 1980s
#60
Jacob Jacob is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "supplanter" or "holder of the heel," from Ya'aqov.
124,948 in the 1980s
#66
Stephen Stephen is a boy's name from the Greek for crown or garland, borne by the first Christian martyr.
114,369 in the 1980s
#67
Patrick Patrick is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "nobleman."
112,153 in the 1980s
#68
Scott Scott is a boy's name meaning a Scot, from the surname given to people from Scotland.
108,744 in the 1980s
#69
Nathan Nathan is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he gave," from Natan.
106,660 in the 1980s
#71
Paul Paul is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "small" or "humble," borne by the apostle whose letters shaped Christian doctrine.
105,105 in the 1980s
#72
Sean Sean is a boy's name of Irish origin meaning "God is gracious," the Irish form of John by way of Norman French.
104,680 in the 1980s
#73
Travis Travis is a boy's name from an occupational surname meaning a toll collector, one who worked at a crossing.
103,689 in the 1980s
#75
Zachary Zachary is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "the Lord has remembered."
102,435 in the 1980s
#78
Dustin Dustin is a boy's name from the Old Norse Thorstein, meaning Thor's stone — the dust in the spelling is pure coincidence.
98,153 in the 1980s
#80
Gregory Gregory is a boy's name from the Greek for watchful or alert.
94,273 in the 1980s
#83
Kenneth Kenneth is a boy's name anglicizing two separate Gaelic names, one meaning born of fire and one meaning handsome.
89,841 in the 1980s
#84
Jesse Jesse is a name of Hebrew origin whose meaning is debated.
89,019 in the 1980s
#85
Tyler Tyler is a boy's name from a medieval trade — a man who laid roof tiles — and the leader of the Peasants' Revolt carried it as a job description.
88,238 in the 1980s

What made a 1980s name

Nothing about the sound of it. A name is on this page because children in the United States were registered with it between 1980 and 1989, and its position is simply how many. Every list of "1980s names" you will find elsewhere is somebody's sense of the period; this one is the register.

Why Some Names Only Cover Part of the Decade

A name that appears in three of the ten years either arrived partway through or faded out — and either is more interesting than the total on its own. The statistics offices do not publish names given to very few children in a year, so a gap can also mean the count dropped below the threshold rather than to nothing.

Where to Go Next

Open any name to see its full curve — most of these have a hundred and forty years of it. Or compare the ends of the same measurement: the most popular names now and the rarest.