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.
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#205Randy Randy is a boy's name, the short form of Randall or Randolph, meaning shield-wolf.29,935 in the 1980s
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#206Jeffery Jeffery is a boy's name whose first element is disputed, though the second means peace.29,792 in the 1980s
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#214Jesus Jesus is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "the Lord is salvation."27,843 in the 1980s
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#217Luke Luke is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "man from Lucania," a region of southern Italy.27,222 in the 1980s
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#219Alan Alan is a boy's name of Breton origin whose meaning has never been established.26,997 in the 1980s
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#233Miguel Miguel is a boy's name meaning who is like God, the Spanish and Portuguese form of Michael.25,830 in the 1980s
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#235Carl Carl is a boy's name from the Germanic word for a free man, the same root as Charles.25,781 in the 1980s
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#252Johnny Johnny is a boy's name, the pet form of John, meaning God is gracious.23,736 in the 1980s
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#256Ricardo Ricardo is a boy's name meaning brave ruler, the Spanish and Portuguese form of Richard.23,277 in the 1980s
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#273Andre Andre is a boy's name, the French form of Andrew, from the Greek for manly.22,051 in the 1980s
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#282Billy Billy is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "resolute protector."21,010 in the 1980s
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#289Ricky Ricky is a boy's name, the pet form of Richard or Ricardo, meaning strong ruler.20,397 in the 1980s
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#293Danny Danny is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my judge," a diminutive of Daniel.20,196 in the 1980s
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#295Manuel Manuel is a boy's name meaning God is with us, the Spanish short form of Emmanuel.20,180 in the 1980s
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#300Randall Randall is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning shield-wolf.19,675 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.