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.
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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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#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
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.