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 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 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 recorded births 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

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.