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

#145
Carlos Carlos is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "free man."
41,953 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
#147
Raymond Raymond is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning counsel and protection.
41,806 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
#149
Gary Gary is a boy's name that reached the charts by an unusually traceable route: a surname became a steel town in Indiana, the town's name was given to an actor, and the actor made it a first name.
40,564 in the 1980s
#150
Alex Alex is a name of Greek origin meaning "defender of mankind."
39,883 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
#153
Nathaniel Nathaniel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "gift of God."
38,926 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
#156
Craig Craig is a boy's name from the Gaelic word for a rock or crag, and one of the few names that is a plain landscape noun rather than a compound.
38,311 in the 1980s
#157
Ian Ian is a boy's name of Scottish origin meaning "Yahweh is gracious," the Scottish Gaelic form of John.
38,032 in the 1980s
#158
Luis Luis is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "famous warrior."
37,833 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
#163
Derrick Derrick means ruler of the people, and the crane is named after a man — Thomas Derrick, an Elizabethan hangman whose gallows design was distinctive enough that his name became the word for it.
36,668 in the 1980s
#164
Erik Erik is a boy's name meaning ever-ruler or sole ruler, from Old Norse.
36,612 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
#169
Philip Philip is a boy's name from Greek elements meaning lover of horses.
35,965 in the 1980s
#170
Christian Christian is a boy's name from the Latin christianus, meaning "a follower of Christ."
35,366 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
#175
Frank Frank is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "free man" or "Frank."
33,857 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
#179
Gabriel Gabriel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my strength," from Gavri'el.
33,329 in the 1980s
#180
Stacey Stacey is the e-spelling of Stacy, from Eustace or Anastasia.
33,294 in the 1980s
#181
Evan Evan is a boy's name of Welsh origin meaning "God is gracious."
33,267 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
#183
Taylor Taylor is an occupational surname meaning one who cuts cloth, now used mostly for girls at 72 percent female.
33,043 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
#185
Victor Victor is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "conqueror."
32,614 in the 1980s
#186
Angel Angel is a name of Greek origin meaning "messenger," from angelos.
32,534 in the 1980s
#187
Vincent Vincent is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "conquering," from vincere, to conquer.
32,302 in the 1980s
#188
Austin Austin is a boy's name that began as a medieval English contraction of Augustine, meaning "venerable" or "majestic," from the Latin augustus.
32,156 in the 1980s
#189
Tracy Tracy is a Norman place name that became a surname, then a boys' name, then overwhelmingly a girls' name — about 81 percent of the births in our records are female.
32,028 in the 1980s
#190
Adrian Adrian is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "from Hadria," a town in northern Italy that also gave its name to the Adriatic Sea.
31,887 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
#192
Wesley Wesley is a boy's name of English origin meaning "western meadow," from the Old English west and leah.
31,570 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.