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.
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#1,051Lucia Lucia is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "light," the feminine of Lucius from lux.3,385 in the 1980s
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#1,061Roberta Roberta is a girl's name meaning bright fame, the feminine of Robert.3,341 in the 1980s
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#1,089Edith Edith is a girl's name of Old English origin meaning "prosperous in war."3,217 in the 1980s
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#1,119Peggy Peggy is a girl's name meaning pearl, a pet form of Margaret by way of Meg.3,083 in the 1980s
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#1,126Jeanne Jeanne is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is gracious," the French feminine of Jean.3,043 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 The statistics offices do not publish names given to very few children in a year, so a gap can also mean the count dropped below the threshold rather than to nothing.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.