1980s Baby Names

10,009 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
#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 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 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
#86
Jose Jose is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add," the Spanish and Portuguese form of Joseph.
87,486 in the 1980s

What Made a 1980s Name

Children in the United States were registered with it between 1980 and 1989. A name's position here is how many of them were.

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.