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

#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
#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

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.