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

#116
Tara Tara is a girl's name from the hill in County Meath where the High Kings were inaugurated, and its meaning is a place of assembly.
56,538 in the 1980s
#117
Kayla Kayla is a girl's name with no established etymology, an American coinage of the 1950s that a soap opera turned into a top-name.
55,445 in the 1980s
#118
Natalie Natalie is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "birthday of the Lord," from natalis.
54,677 in the 1980s
#119
Victoria Victoria is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "victory."
53,545 in the 1980s
#122
Monica Monica is a girl's name whose meaning is unknown, and whose saint — the mother of Augustine — came from Roman North Africa, so the name may be Berber rather than Latin or Greek at all.
52,198 in the 1980s
#124
Jacqueline Jacqueline is a girl's name, the French feminine of Jacques, and it inherits the meaning supplanter from Jacob.
51,839 in the 1980s
#126
Holly Holly is a girl's name of Old English origin taken from the tree, from holegn.
49,875 in the 1980s
#129
Kristina Kristina means a follower of Christ, the Scandinavian and Slavic form of Christina.
46,126 in the 1980s
#132
Whitney Whitney was already climbing before Whitney Houston, and the debut album accelerated it rather than starting it — 1,632 births in 1982, 2,488 by 1984, then 4,068 in 1985 and 9,781 in 1986.
46,002 in the 1980s
#133
Patricia Patricia is a girl's name from the Latin for noble or patrician, the feminine of Patrick.
45,501 in the 1980s
#135
Cassandra Cassandra is a girl's name from Greek myth, borne by a prophet cursed to see the future and never be believed.
45,057 in the 1980s
#138
Chelsea Chelsea is a girl's name from a London district whose name means chalk landing place — a wharf where chalk was unloaded from boats on the Thames.
43,344 in the 1980s
#139
Brandi Brandi respells Brandy, and the drink behind it means burned wine — the Dutch brandewijn described wine heated to distill it.
43,090 in the 1980s
#140
Catherine Catherine is a girl's name of Greek origin whose meaning is unknown — the familiar reading of pure is a later reshaping, not the original sense.
42,631 in the 1980s
#141
Leslie Leslie is a Scottish place name turned surname turned given name, and it has crossed sexes: about 71 percent of recorded births are female, though the name began firmly male and remains so in Britain.
42,593 in the 1980s
#146
Cynthia Cynthia is a girl's name that began as a title for the moon goddess — it means she of Mount Cynthus, the peak on Delos where Artemis was said to have been born.
41,935 in the 1980s
#148
Dana Dana is a name with several unrelated sources — a Danish origin, a Hebrew feminine of Daniel, and an Irish mother goddess.
41,481 in the 1980s
#151
Kathleen Kathleen is a girl's name anglicizing the Irish Caitlín, a form of Catherine, and it inherits that name's unknown meaning.
39,578 in the 1980s
#152
Veronica Veronica is a girl's name from a Latin phrase meaning true image, and the saint behind it was invented to explain a relic — the cloth came first, and the woman was named after it.
39,545 in the 1980s
#154
Stacy Stacy comes from Eustace or Anastasia, two unrelated names, and its meanings are correspondingly different — fruitful or resurrection.
38,518 in the 1980s
#155
Natasha Natasha means born on Christmas day, and it is a Russian pet form rather than a full name — Natalya is the formal version, and Russians would not use Natasha on a document.
38,394 in the 1980s
#159
Krystal Krystal means ice, and the Greeks believed rock crystal was water frozen so hard it could never melt — which is why the same word names both the mineral and the frost.
37,639 in the 1980s
#160
Diana Diana is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "divine" or "heavenly," the Roman goddess of the hunt and the moon.
37,225 in the 1980s
#161
Erika Erika means ever-ruler, the feminine of Erik — and it is also the botanical name for heather, which is a separate Greek word that happens to match.
37,127 in the 1980s
#162
Jenna Jenna is a girl's name that began as an elaboration of Jenny and is now used independently.
36,725 in the 1980s
#165
Meghan Meghan means pearl, through Megan and Margaret, and the h is an American addition — Welsh spells it Megan, and the extra letter appeared in twentieth-century American use with no basis in the original.
36,353 in the 1980s
#166
Carrie Carrie is a girl's name, a pet form of Caroline meaning free man through Charles.
36,234 in the 1980s
#167
Leah Leah is a girl's name of Hebrew origin whose meaning is disputed, most often given as "weary" but also linked to a word for wild cow.
36,210 in the 1980s
#168
Melanie Melanie is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "black" or "dark."
36,105 in the 1980s
#171
Brooke Brooke is a girl's name from the English word for a small stream.
35,267 in the 1980s
#172
Karen Karen is a girl's name, the Danish form of Katherine, and it inherits that name's unknown meaning.
35,186 in the 1980s
#173
Alexandra Alexandra is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "defender of men," and it appears as a title of the goddess Hera before it was ever a personal name.
35,118 in the 1980s
#174
Valerie Valerie is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "strong" or "healthy," from the verb valere, meaning to be strong or to be well.
34,790 in the 1980s
#176
Caitlin Caitlin is a girl's name of Greek origin, the Irish form of Katherine, and its English mispronunciation generated a whole family of new names.
33,755 in the 1980s
#177
Julia Julia is a girl's name of Latin origin, the feminine of the Roman family name Julius.
33,625 in the 1980s
#178
Jasmine Jasmine is a girl's name of Persian origin taken from the flower, whose name comes from yasmin.
33,482 in the 1980s
#182
Alyssa Alyssa is a girl's name from the flower alyssum, whose Greek name means without madness — the plant was believed to cure rabies.
33,052 in the 1980s
#184
Hannah Hannah is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "grace" or "favor," from Channah.
32,856 in the 1980s
#191
Brittney Brittney means from Brittany, and Brittany means from Britain — so the name records Britons who fled to France, making it a British name that came home by way of Normandy and a respelling.
31,719 in the 1980s
#199
Susan Susan is a girl's name from a Hebrew word for lily, taken in turn from an Egyptian word for lotus.
30,706 in the 1980s
#201
Margaret Margaret is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "pearl," from margarites.
30,512 in the 1980s
#202
Sandra Sandra is a girl's name that began as an Italian short form of Alessandra and became independent in the twentieth century.
30,331 in the 1980s
#204
Candice Candice is not a name but a title — Kandake was the word for the queen mother of Kush, and Acts records one without naming her, so a royal office became a personal name by misreading.
29,966 in the 1980s
#207
Latoya Latoya is an American invention with no source language, and its 1984 peak of 5,069 births is the largest single-year figure in this group — the victory gloss offered for it is attached to a coinage.
29,658 in the 1980s
#208
Bethany Bethany is a village outside Jerusalem, and its meaning is contested — house of figs and house of the poor are both proposed.
29,435 in the 1980s
#209
Misty Misty is a word name with no older root — it is the English weather word used directly, appearing in American records only from the 1940s and peaking within a single generation.
29,214 in the 1980s
#210
Kelsey Kelsey is a girl's name from an English place name, and its two proposed meanings — ship's victory and Cenel's island — have nothing in common.
29,180 in the 1980s
#212
Katrina Katrina has no securely known meaning, because Catherine does not — the Greek original has never been derived, and the pure reading was attached centuries later by a false association.
28,952 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.