1980s Baby Names

17,873 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 genuinely 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
#82
Courtney Courtney is a name from a Norman family whose surname is usually read as short nose, though a place-name derivation competes.
92,054 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 genuinely 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

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.