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

#49
Kyle Kyle is a boy's name of Scottish Gaelic origin meaning "narrow strait," taken from a district of Ayrshire.
144,366 in the 1980s
#50
Benjamin Benjamin is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "son of the right hand," from Binyamin.
142,164 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
#53
Aaron Aaron is a boy's name of Hebrew origin whose meaning is not established.
139,788 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
#57
Charles Charles is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "free man," from karl.
132,901 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
#59
Mark Mark is a boy's name of Latin origin, most likely meaning "of Mars," borne by the evangelist who wrote the earliest gospel.
130,249 in the 1980s
#60
Jacob Jacob is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "supplanter" or "holder of the heel," from Ya'aqov.
124,948 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
#62
Kelly Kelly is a name from the Irish surname Ó Ceallaigh, borne almost entirely by men for most of its history and now 86 percent female in our data.
119,313 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
#65
Jamie Jamie is a unisex name of Hebrew origin, a Scottish diminutive of James meaning "supplanter" or "holder of the heel."
114,968 in the 1980s
#66
Stephen Stephen is a boy's name from the Greek for crown or garland, borne by the first Christian martyr.
114,369 in the 1980s
#67
Patrick Patrick is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "nobleman."
112,153 in the 1980s
#68
Scott Scott is a boy's name meaning a Scot, from the surname given to people from Scotland.
108,744 in the 1980s
#69
Nathan Nathan is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he gave," from Natan.
106,660 in the 1980s
#70
Sara Sara is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "princess" or "noblewoman."
105,120 in the 1980s
#71
Paul Paul is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "small" or "humble," borne by the apostle whose letters shaped Christian doctrine.
105,105 in the 1980s
#72
Sean Sean is a boy's name of Irish origin meaning "God is gracious," the Irish form of John by way of Norman French.
104,680 in the 1980s
#73
Travis Travis is a boy's name from an occupational surname meaning a toll collector, one who worked at a crossing.
103,689 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
#75
Zachary Zachary is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "the Lord has remembered."
102,435 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
#78
Dustin Dustin is a boy's name from the Old Norse Thorstein, meaning Thor's stone — the dust in the spelling is pure coincidence.
98,153 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
#80
Gregory Gregory is a boy's name from the Greek for watchful or alert.
94,273 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
#83
Kenneth Kenneth is a boy's name anglicizing two separate Gaelic names, one meaning born of fire and one meaning handsome.
89,841 in the 1980s
#84
Jesse Jesse is a name of Hebrew origin whose meaning is debated.
89,019 in the 1980s
#85
Tyler Tyler is a boy's name from a medieval trade — a man who laid roof tiles — and the leader of the Peasants' Revolt carried it as a job description.
88,238 in the 1980s
#86
Jose Jose is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add," the Spanish and Portuguese form of Joseph.
87,486 in the 1980s
#87
Shannon Shannon is a name from Ireland's longest river, and it is 86 percent female in our records.
86,539 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
#89
Alexander Alexander is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "defender of men," from alexein, to defend, and aner, man.
83,538 in the 1980s
#90
Bryan Bryan is a boy's name of Irish origin whose meaning is unsettled — noble and high are both proposed.
81,081 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
#92
Samuel Samuel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin usually translated as "God has heard," from Shemu'el.
73,975 in the 1980s
#93
Derek Derek is a boy's name from the Germanic Theodoric, meaning ruler of the people — and it is the same name as Terry and Thierry, three forms of one original that no longer resemble each other.
73,381 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

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.