1980s Baby Names

30,334 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

#433
Kerry Kerry is 53 percent female on record — the fourth-closest to an even split on this site, behind only Emerson, Riley and Jackie.
11,999 in the 1980s
#434
Robyn Robyn is a girl's name of Germanic origin meaning "bright fame."
11,988 in the 1980s
#435
Abby Abby means my father is joy, and France ranks it 322nd — ahead of Scotland at 359th, Ireland at 453rd and the United States at 731st, which is not where an English diminutive of a Hebrew name should lead.
11,945 in the 1980s
#436
Neil Neil means champion or cloud, from Irish, and it traveled to Iceland with the Vikings and back to England with the Normans — so the English Neil arrived by way of Scandinavia and France.
11,926 in the 1980s
#437
Grace Grace is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "favor" or "blessing," from gratia.
11,855 in the 1980s
#438
Joy Joy is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning exactly what it says, taken from the English word.
11,813 in the 1980s
#439
Tyrone Tyrone means Eoghan's land, an Irish county, and it reached American use almost entirely through one actor — Tyrone Power, whose grandfather took the name from the county his family came from.
11,735 in the 1980s
#440
Alexandria Alexandria is the city before it is the name — Alexander founded it in 331 BC, and the feminine given name was formed from the place rather than directly from Alexandra, which took a different route.
11,733 in the 1980s
#441
Edgar Edgar is a boy's name meaning wealthy spear, and it is one of very few Old English names still in wide use.
11,730 in the 1980s
#442
Jodi Jodi serves Judith, Joseph and Jude at once, which is why the wider Jody family never settled on one sex — three unrelated Hebrew parents pulling in different directions.
11,726 in the 1980s
#443
Marvin Marvin is a boy's name from the Welsh Merfyn, and the sea friend reading usually given for it is not supported — the Welsh elements point to marrow and eminent instead.
11,627 in the 1980s
#444
Gabrielle Gabrielle is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my strength," the French feminine of Gabriel.
11,624 in the 1980s
#445
Eduardo Eduardo means wealthy guardian, and it is one of very few Old English names that spread across the Catholic world — carried by Edward the Confessor's cult rather than by English settlement.
11,547 in the 1980s
#446
Yolanda Yolanda means violet, and the flower reaches it through a chain of respellings — the Greek Iolanthe became Violante in Italian by association with viola, and Spanish then rendered that form as the Yolanda we know.
11,495 in the 1980s
#447
Ivan Ivan is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is gracious."
11,410 in the 1980s
#448
Kellie Kellie has no settled meaning — the Irish Ceallach has been read as bright-headed, as strife, and as one who frequents churches, and the three readings are not close to reconciling.
11,367 in the 1980s
#449
Ernest Ernest is a boy's name from a Germanic word meaning serious or resolute, and it is far stronger in Europe than in America — 252nd in England and Wales and 276th in France against 1,042nd in the United States.
11,343 in the 1980s
#450
Jake Jake is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "supplanter," a short form of Jacob that became a name in its own right.
11,325 in the 1980s
#451
Ruth Ruth is a girl's name of Hebrew origin usually given as "companion" or "friend," though the derivation is not secure.
11,312 in the 1980s
#452
Mayra
11,308 in the 1980s
#453
Diane Diane is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "divine" or "heavenly," the French form of the Roman goddess Diana.
11,270 in the 1980s
#454
Paula Paula is a girl's name from the Latin for small or humble, the feminine of Paul.
11,195 in the 1980s
#455
Lydia Lydia is a girl's name meaning "woman from Lydia," an ancient kingdom in what is now western Turkey.
11,122 in the 1980s
#456
Evelyn Evelyn is a girl's name of English and French origin meaning "desired" or "wished for".
11,111 in the 1980s
#457
Rosa Rosa is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "rose."
10,939 in the 1980s
#458
Kaitlyn Kaitlyn is a girl's name that respells the Irish Caitlín — which came into Irish from French, and into French from Greek.
10,928 in the 1980s
#459
Dale Dale is a name from the Old English word for a valley, and like Craig and Heather it is a plain landscape noun rather than a compound.
10,923 in the 1980s
#460
Briana Briana is a feminine of Brian, and it first appears in Spenser's Faerie Queene in 1590 — which makes it one of very few names whose earliest recorded use is a specific poem.
10,920 in the 1980s
#461
Krystle
10,913 in the 1980s
#462
Naomi Naomi is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "pleasantness," from No'omi.
10,912 in the 1980s
#463
Claire Claire is a girl's name of French origin meaning "clear" or "bright," from the Latin clarus.
10,896 in the 1980s
#464
Sophia Sophia is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "wisdom," taken directly from the Greek word sophía.
10,875 in the 1980s
#465
Francis Francis is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "Frenchman" or "free man."
10,838 in the 1980s
#466
Terrence Terrence descends from a Roman playwright who was born enslaved in North Africa — Terence was freed by his owner, wrote six comedies that survive complete, and shaped Latin prose style for centuries.
10,783 in the 1980s
#467
Kurt Kurt means bold counsel, shortened from Konrad — and the courteous reading commonly given is a false friend, coming from an unrelated French word that only sounds similar.
10,733 in the 1980s
#468
Eugene Eugene is a boy's name from the Greek for well-born, and it is the source of the word eugenics — a connection worth knowing, since the name long predates and has nothing to do with that movement.
10,684 in the 1980s
#469
Ramon Ramon means protecting counsel, and both halves are Germanic — the Visigoths brought it to Iberia, so a name that reads as thoroughly Spanish is Gothic underneath, like Fernando and Alonzo.
10,647 in the 1980s
#470
Nikki Nikki means victory of the people, and both halves of the Greek are collective — nike is the victory and laos is the citizen body, so it describes a public triumph rather than a personal one.
10,643 in the 1980s
#471
Tommy Tommy is a boy's name of Aramaic origin meaning "twin."
10,601 in the 1980s
#472
Kelley Kelley is the same Irish name as Kellie, spelled differently, and the two split its births between them — this one peaked in 1968 and that one in 1969, a year apart at nearly the same size.
10,583 in the 1980s
#473
Leonard Leonard is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "lion-strong," and its saint is the patron of prisoners and of women in labor.
10,558 in the 1980s
#474
Gloria Gloria is a girl's name that is simply the Latin word for glory, taken unchanged.
10,556 in the 1980s
#475
Ethan Ethan is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "firm," "enduring," or "strong."
10,525 in the 1980s
#476
Armando Armando means army man, and it is the same name as Herman — one Germanic compound that reached Spanish through the Visigoths and English through the Normans, ending up unrecognisably different.
10,519 in the 1980s
#477
Paige Paige is a girl's name from a medieval job title meaning a young male servant, and it reached women by way of a surname.
10,515 in the 1980s
#478
Bryce Bryce means speckled or freckled, from a Gaulish saint's name whose meaning is not certain.
10,506 in the 1980s
#479
Steve Steve is a boy's name, the short form of Steven or Stephen, meaning crown or garland.
10,495 in the 1980s
#480
Darryl Darryl does not mean darling.
10,465 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.