Eighties Boy Names

Names that peaked in the 1980s, when the American charts turned over faster than at any point before. A large share are respellings and inventions rather than revivals, which is what makes the decade recognizable at a glance.

Rankings for

21 names, most popular first in the United States

Very Rare Rare Uncommon

Girls Boys Unisex

Justin Justin is a boy's name from the Latin for just or righteous.
Latin #233 in US
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.
Germanic #284 in US
Bryan Bryan is a boy's name of Irish origin whose meaning is unsettled — noble and high are both proposed.
Irish #336 in US
Bradley Bradley is a boy's name from an English place name meaning broad meadow.
English #403 in US
Travis Travis is a boy's name from an occupational surname meaning a toll collector, one who worked at a crossing.
English #434 in US
Dustin Dustin is a boy's name from the Old Norse Thorstein, meaning Thor's stone — the dust in the spelling is pure coincidence.
Norse #728 in US
Corey Corey is a boy's name from an Irish surname, generally given as dweller near a hollow.
Irish #779 in US
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.
Germanic #852 in US
Cory Cory has at least three unrelated origins — a Norse island name, an Irish surname and a Greek word for a maiden — and English cannot distinguish them.
Scottish #1,248 in US
Bryant Bryant means noble or high, and the t is a French accident — Norman scribes added it to the Irish Brian, so the surname carries a letter the original name never had.
Irish #1,327 in US
Brett Brett means a Breton — someone from Brittany, which is named for the Britons who fled there when the Anglo-Saxons arrived.
English #1,385 in US
Terrance Terrance respells Terrence, and the name descends from a Roman playwright born enslaved in North Africa — Terence was freed by his owner and his Latin became a school text for centuries.
American #1,565 in US
Loïc Loïc is Breton, and its parentage is disputed — Louis and Eloi are both proposed, and the two are unrelated.
Breton #4,096 in US
Mathieu Mathieu is the French form of Matthew, meaning gift of God.
French #5,031 in US
Benoît Benoît means blessed, and it is the French form of Benedict — the circumflex marks a lost s, so the older spelling was Benoist and the Latin behind it was benedictus, well-spoken-of.
French #6,783 in US
Fabien Fabien means bean grower, from a Roman family name — the Fabii were among Rome's oldest houses, and several great clans took their names from crops rather than from virtues or conquests.
French #7,010 in US
Mickael Mickael is a French respelling of Michael, meaning who is like God — a rhetorical question whose expected answer is nobody.
French #7,207 in US
Matthieu Matthieu means gift of God, and it is the second spelling of this name in this group — France ranks Matthieu 430th and Mathieu 416th, so the two have split the sound almost exactly evenly.
French #7,442 in US
Aurélien Aurélien means golden, from a Roman family name, and the emperor who carried it built the walls that still ring Rome — Aurelian's wall went up in the 270s and much of it is standing.
French #8,137 in US
Romain Romain is a French boy's name meaning a Roman, from the Latin word for a citizen of Rome.
French 194,729 births
Florent Florent means flowering, and it ranks in France alone at 1,358th — one of the most tightly national names in this band, with no measured presence in the five other markets.
French 70,948 births

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Eighties Boy Names

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