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

#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
#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 genuinely 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
#134
Brandy Brandy is named for the drink, and the drink means burned wine — the Dutch brandewijn described wine heated to distil it, so the name records a manufacturing process rather than a quality.
45,102 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 genuinely unknown — the familiar reading of pure is a later reshaping, not the original sense.
42,631 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
#151
Kathleen Kathleen is a girl's name anglicizing the Irish Caitlín, a form of Catherine, and it inherits that name's genuinely 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
#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 genuinely 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
#180
Stacey Stacey is the e-spelling of Stacy, from Eustace or Anastasia.
33,294 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

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.