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

#89
Alexander Alexander is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "defender of men," from alexein, to defend, and aner, man.
83,538 in the 1980s
#90
Bryan Bryan is a boy's name of Irish origin whose meaning is unsettled — noble and high are both proposed.
81,081 in the 1980s
#92
Samuel Samuel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin usually translated as "God has heard," from Shemu'el.
73,975 in the 1980s
#93
Derek Derek is a boy's name from the Germanic Theodoric, meaning ruler of the people — and it is the same name as Terry and Thierry, three forms of one original that no longer resemble each other.
73,381 in the 1980s
#98
Bradley Bradley is a boy's name from an English place name meaning broad meadow.
69,780 in the 1980s
#99
Chad Chad is a boy's name from a seventh-century English saint, and it has since become an American internet stereotype and, separately, the name of a country and a disputed ballot.
69,431 in the 1980s
#102
Shawn Shawn is a boy's name, the phonetic American respelling of the Irish Seán, which is itself the Irish form of John.
68,302 in the 1980s
#109
Cody Cody is a boy's name of Irish origin, anglicising Ó Cuidighthigh, meaning "descendant of the helpful one."
62,222 in the 1980s
#111
Edward Edward is a boy's name of Old English origin meaning "wealthy guardian."
61,256 in the 1980s
#112
Jared Jared is a boy's name from Hebrew meaning descent, borne by the father of Enoch — the one man in Genesis who does not die but is taken.
60,653 in the 1980s
#114
Peter Peter is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "rock."
57,071 in the 1980s
#115
Corey Corey is a boy's name from an Irish surname, generally given as dweller near a hollow.
56,715 in the 1980s
#120
Keith Keith is a boy's name from a Scottish place name, probably from a Brittonic word for a wood.
53,046 in the 1980s
#121
Marcus Marcus is a boy's name of Latin origin most likely meaning "of Mars," and it was one of only about eighteen first names Roman men used.
52,324 in the 1980s
#123
Juan Juan is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is gracious."
51,979 in the 1980s
#125
Donald Donald is a boy's name from the Scottish Gaelic Dòmhnall, meaning world ruler.
51,225 in the 1980s
#127
Ronald Ronald is a boy's name from the Old Norse Rögnvaldr, meaning ruler's counsel, brought to Scotland by Norse settlement.
47,045 in the 1980s
#128
Cory Cory has at least three unrelated origins — a Norse island name, an Irish surname and a Greek word for a maiden — and English cannot distinguish them.
46,429 in the 1980s
#130
George George is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "farmer" or "worker of the earth," from ge, earth, and ergon, work.
46,081 in the 1980s
#131
Phillip Phillip is a boy's name meaning lover of horses, the doubled-l spelling of Philip.
46,026 in the 1980s
#136
Joel Joel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin that joins two names for God, and the prophet's book supplied the line quoted at Pentecost.
43,980 in the 1980s
#137
Shane Shane is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is gracious," and it exists because English speakers wrote down how Ulster pronounced Seán.
43,873 in the 1980s
#142
Brett Brett means a Breton — someone from Brittany, which is named for the Britons who fled there when the Anglo-Saxons arrived.
42,339 in the 1980s
#143
Antonio Antonio is a boy's name of Etruscan origin whose meaning is unknown.
42,125 in the 1980s
#144
Douglas Douglas is a boy's name from the Scottish Gaelic for dark water, originally a river and then a powerful border family.
42,024 in the 1980s
#145
Carlos Carlos is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "free man."
41,953 in the 1980s
#147
Raymond Raymond is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning counsel and protection.
41,806 in the 1980s
#149
Gary Gary is a boy's name that reached the charts by an unusually traceable route: a surname became a steel town in Indiana, the town's name was given to an actor, and the actor made it a first name.
40,564 in the 1980s
#150
Alex Alex is a name of Greek origin meaning "defender of mankind."
39,883 in the 1980s
#153
Nathaniel Nathaniel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "gift of God."
38,926 in the 1980s
#156
Craig Craig is a boy's name from the Gaelic word for a rock or crag, and one of the few names that is a plain landscape noun rather than a compound.
38,311 in the 1980s
#157
Ian Ian is a boy's name of Scottish origin meaning "Yahweh is gracious," the Scottish Gaelic form of John.
38,032 in the 1980s
#158
Luis Luis is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "famous warrior."
37,833 in the 1980s
#163
Derrick Derrick means ruler of the people, and the crane is named after a man — Thomas Derrick, an Elizabethan hangman whose gallows design was distinctive enough that his name became the word for it.
36,668 in the 1980s
#164
Erik Erik is a boy's name meaning ever-ruler or sole ruler, from Old Norse.
36,612 in the 1980s
#169
Philip Philip is a boy's name from Greek elements meaning lover of horses.
35,965 in the 1980s
#170
Christian Christian is a boy's name from the Latin christianus, meaning "a follower of Christ."
35,366 in the 1980s
#175
Frank Frank is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "free man" or "Frank."
33,857 in the 1980s
#179
Gabriel Gabriel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my strength," from Gavri'el.
33,329 in the 1980s
#181
Evan Evan is a boy's name of Welsh origin meaning "God is gracious."
33,267 in the 1980s
#185
Victor Victor is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "conqueror."
32,614 in the 1980s
#187
Vincent Vincent is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "conquering," from vincere, to conquer.
32,302 in the 1980s
#188
Austin Austin is a boy's name that began as a medieval English contraction of Augustine, meaning "venerable" or "majestic," from the Latin augustus.
32,156 in the 1980s
#190
Adrian Adrian is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "from Hadria," a town in northern Italy that also gave its name to the Adriatic Sea.
31,887 in the 1980s
#192
Wesley Wesley is a boy's name of English origin meaning "western meadow," from the Old English west and leah.
31,570 in the 1980s
#193
Larry Larry is a boy's name, the short form of Lawrence, from a Roman name meaning of Laurentum.
31,562 in the 1980s
#195
Brent Brent means burned land, from ground cleared by fire — a place name recording a specific agricultural practice rather than a hill or a holy site, which are the two readings usually offered for it.
31,491 in the 1980s
#197
Seth Seth is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "appointed" or "placed," given to Adam and Eve's third son after Cain killed Abel.
31,318 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.