1980s Baby Names

17,980 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

#3
Jessica Jessica is a girl's name invented by Shakespeare for The Merchant of Venice in 1596.
471,530 in the 1980s
#5
Jennifer Jennifer is a girl's name, the Cornish form of the Welsh Gwenhwyfar, the name of King Arthur's queen.
442,597 in the 1980s
#8
Amanda Amanda is a girl's name from the Latin for she who must be loved, and one of the few names on this site that can be dated to a specific literary invention — Colley Cibber used it for a character in his 1696 play Love's Last Shift.
370,884 in the 1980s
#10
Ashley Ashley is a name of Old English origin meaning "ash tree clearing."
357,399 in the 1980s
#19
Sarah Sarah is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "princess" or "noblewoman."
273,757 in the 1980s
#25
Stephanie Stephanie is a girl's name from the Greek for crown or garland, the feminine of Stephen.
219,181 in the 1980s
#26
Melissa Melissa is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "bee," and it was the title of the priestesses who served Demeter.
218,843 in the 1980s
#28
Nicole Nicole is a girl's name, the French feminine of Nicholas, meaning victory of the people.
211,316 in the 1980s
#30
Elizabeth Elizabeth is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my oath," from Elisheva, the name of Aaron's wife in the Book of Exodus.
199,972 in the 1980s
#32
Heather Heather is a girl's name taken directly from the flowering shrub that covers Scottish and northern English moorland.
192,487 in the 1980s
#37
Tiffany Tiffany is a medieval name meaning manifestation of God, given to girls born at Epiphany — a old name that now reads as thoroughly modern.
159,292 in the 1980s
#39
Michelle Michelle is a girl's name, the French feminine of Michel, from a Hebrew question meaning who is like God.
154,839 in the 1980s
#40
Amber Amber is a girl's name of Arabic origin meaning "ambergris."
154,477 in the 1980s
#42
Megan Megan is a girl's name, the Welsh pet form of Margaret, from a Greek word for pearl that reached Europe from Persian.
154,070 in the 1980s
#43
Amy Amy is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "beloved," and unusually the name is a past participle — someone who has been loved rather than someone lovable.
151,187 in the 1980s
#44
Rachel Rachel is a girl's name from Hebrew meaning ewe, borne by Jacob's wife in Genesis.
147,336 in the 1980s
#45
Kimberly Kimberly is a girl's name that reached America by way of a South African diamond town, which was itself named after a British colonial secretary.
147,079 in the 1980s
#46
Christina Christina is a girl's name from the Latin for a follower of Christ, and the fullest of the family that includes Christine and Kristina.
146,852 in the 1980s
#47
Lauren Lauren is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "laurel," which became a women's name because a film studio invented one.
146,101 in the 1980s
#51
Crystal Crystal is a girl's name from the Greek for ice, taken from the mineral rather than from any personal name.
141,629 in the 1980s
#52
Brittany Brittany is a girl's name taken from the French region, which is named for British settlers who crossed the Channel in late antiquity.
141,498 in the 1980s
#54
Rebecca Rebecca is a girl's name of Hebrew origin whose meaning is unsettled, and the standard gloss involves a rope for tying cattle.
136,806 in the 1980s
#55
Danielle Danielle is a girl's name, the French feminine of Daniel, from a Hebrew name meaning God is my judge.
135,215 in the 1980s
#56
Laura Laura is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "laurel," the tree whose leaves crowned Roman victors and poets.
135,207 in the 1980s
#58
Emily Emily is a girl's name of Latin origin, from the Roman family name Aemilius.
132,291 in the 1980s
#61
Samantha Samantha is a girl's name of uncertain origin, first recorded in America in the eighteenth century.
121,578 in the 1980s
#63
Erin Erin is a girl's name of Irish origin meaning "Ireland."
118,013 in the 1980s
#64
Angela Angela is a girl's name from the Greek for messenger, the word that also gives us angel.
117,078 in the 1980s
#70
Sara Sara is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "princess" or "noblewoman."
105,120 in the 1980s
#74
Lisa Lisa is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my oath," a short form of Elisabeth that became a name in its own right.
103,036 in the 1980s
#76
Katherine Katherine is a girl's name whose meaning is not settled.
99,625 in the 1980s
#77
Andrea Andrea is a name meaning "manly" or "brave," from the Greek aner.
99,530 in the 1980s
#79
Mary Mary is a girl's name of Hebrew origin whose meaning has never been settled.
96,472 in the 1980s
#81
Erica Erica is a girl's name with two independent sources: the feminine of Eric, meaning eternal ruler, and the botanical Latin name of heather.
93,682 in the 1980s
#88
Kristen Kristen is a girl's name meaning a follower of Christ, and in Denmark it is a man's name — the Danish Kristen is masculine and Kirsten the feminine.
83,833 in the 1980s
#91
April April is a girl's name taken from the month, whose Latin name probably means to open — the month when buds open.
76,227 in the 1980s
#94
Katie Katie is a girl's name of Greek origin, a diminutive of Katherine whose meaning has never been settled.
73,125 in the 1980s
#95
Lindsey Lindsey is a girl's name from a district of Lincolnshire, and it originally meant an island — Lindsey was cut off by marsh and river, so the wetland reading and the island reading describe the same place.
73,023 in the 1980s
#96
Kristin Kristin is a girl's name meaning a follower of Christ, and it is the smaller of a pair — Kristen holds 222,720 recorded births to its 181,344, and both charted only ever in America.
71,041 in the 1980s
#100
Lindsay Lindsay and Lindsey are the same place — a district of Lincolnshire that was effectively an island in fen.
69,149 in the 1980s
#101
Christine Christine is a girl's name from the Latin for a follower of Christ, the French form of Christina.
68,403 in the 1980s
#103
Alicia Alicia is a girl's name of Germanic origin meaning "noble," a Latinate form of Alice.
67,248 in the 1980s
#104
Maria Maria is a girl's name of Hebrew origin, the Latin and Greek form of Miryam.
66,714 in the 1980s
#105
Vanessa Vanessa was invented by Jonathan Swift around 1713, built from the name of a woman he was writing to — and it later became the name of a genus of butterflies.
66,187 in the 1980s
#107
Kathryn Kathryn is a girl's name, the y-spelling of Katherine, and it inherits that name's unknown meaning.
62,723 in the 1980s
#108
Allison Allison is a girl's name of Norman French origin, from Alis — the medieval form of Alice — plus a diminutive ending.
62,642 in the 1980s
#110
Julie Julie is a girl's name, the French form of Julia, from a Roman family name of uncertain origin.
61,952 in the 1980s
#113
Anna Anna is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "grace" or "favor," the Greek and Latin form of Hannah.
57,590 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.