Most popular baby names of 1980

In 1980, the most popular names for US babies were Michael for boys (68,687 babies, 3.8% of boys) and Jennifer for girls (58,378 babies, 3.5% of girls). The rest of the top five were Christopher, Jason, David and James for boys and Amanda, Jessica, Melissa and Sarah for girls. SSA recorded 7,293 different boy names and 12,162 different girl names that year.

Top 100 boy names, 1980
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Michael	68,687	–
2	Christopher	49,082	–
3	Jason	48,166	–
4	David	41,890	–
5	James	39,314	–
6	Matthew	37,839	–
7	Joshua	36,054	▲ 2
8	John	35,277	▼ 1
9	Robert	34,269	▼ 1
10	Joseph	30,185	▲ 1
11	Daniel	29,895	▲ 1
12	Brian	28,718	▼ 2
13	Justin	26,763	▲ 9
14	William	25,638	▼ 1
15	Ryan	24,798	▼ 1
16	Eric	22,614	▲ 1
17	Nicholas	21,025	▼ 2
18	Jeremy	19,892	▼ 2
19	Andrew	19,734	▲ 1
20	Timothy	19,147	▼ 2
21	Jonathan	18,988	▲ 10
22	Adam	18,867	▲ 1
23	Kevin	17,976	▼ 4
24	Anthony	17,608	▼ 3
25	Thomas	17,565	▲ 1
26	Richard	16,657	▼ 1
27	Jeffrey	16,384	▼ 3
28	Steven	15,919	▼ 1
29	Charles	14,958	▼ 1
30	Mark	14,170	–
31	Brandon	14,162	▲ 4
32	Benjamin	13,626	▲ 1
33	Scott	13,298	▼ 4
34	Aaron	13,169	▼ 2
35	Paul	11,821	▼ 1
36	Nathan	11,140	▲ 1
37	Travis	10,765	▼ 1
38	Patrick	10,354	▲ 1
39	Chad	10,142	▼ 1
40	Stephen	10,063	–
41	Kenneth	9,610	–
42	Gregory	9,268	–
43	Jacob	8,522	▲ 2
44	Dustin	8,415	▲ 18
45	Jesse	8,376	▲ 5
46	Jose	8,322	▼ 2
47	Shawn	7,698	▼ 4
48	Sean	7,599	▲ 1
49	Bryan	7,512	▼ 3
50	Derek	7,241	▲ 22
51	Bradley	7,209	▼ 4
52	Edward	6,763	▼ 4
53	Donald	6,268	▼ 2
54	Samuel	6,013	▲ 1
55	Peter	5,968	▼ 2
56	Keith	5,887	▼ 4
57	Kyle	5,776	▼ 1
58	Ronald	5,757	▼ 4
59	Juan	5,433	▲ 2
60	George	5,300	▼ 3
61	Jared	5,206	▲ 4
62	Douglas	5,180	▼ 4
63	Gary	5,037	▼ 4
64	Erik	4,914	▲ 2
65	Phillip	4,633	▲ 3
66	Raymond	4,577	▲ 4
67	Joel	4,565	▲ 4
68	Corey	4,438	▼ 5
69	Shane	4,367	▼ 2
70	Larry	4,263	▼ 1
71	Marcus	4,262	▲ 5
72	Zachary	4,245	▲ 2
73	Craig	4,235	▲ 4
74	Derrick	4,135	▲ 6
75	Todd	4,128	▼ 15
76	Jeremiah	4,093	▲ 5
77	Carlos	4,085	▼ 4
78	Antonio	4,084	▲ 1
79	Shaun	3,923	▼ 15
80	Dennis	3,806	▼ 5
81	Frank	3,735	▼ 3
82	Philip	3,562	▲ 1
83	Cory	3,556	▼ 1
84	Brent	3,538	–
85	Gabriel	3,494	▲ 5
86	Nathaniel	3,492	▲ 9
87	Randy	3,392	▼ 1
88	Luis	3,359	▲ 14
89	Curtis	3,332	▲ 2
90	Jeffery	3,324	▼ 3
91	Alexander	3,280	▲ 3
92	Russell	3,269	–
93	Casey	3,215	–
94	Jerry	3,191	▼ 9
95	Wesley	3,165	▼ 6
96	Brett	3,128	▲ 2
97	Luke	3,111	▲ 13
98	Lucas	3,081	▲ 10
99	Seth	3,050	▲ 2
100	Billy	2,991	▼ 3

Top 100 girl names, 1980
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Jennifer	58,378	–
2	Amanda	35,811	▲ 1
3	Jessica	33,923	▲ 1
4	Melissa	31,634	▼ 2
5	Sarah	25,759	▲ 1
6	Heather	19,973	▲ 1
7	Nicole	19,917	▲ 2
8	Amy	19,833	▼ 3
9	Elizabeth	19,531	▲ 2
10	Michelle	19,120	–
11	Kimberly	18,500	▲ 1
12	Angela	17,967	▼ 4
13	Stephanie	17,841	▲ 2
14	Tiffany	16,229	▲ 14
15	Christina	16,140	▼ 1
16	Lisa	15,666	▼ 3
17	Rebecca	15,280	–
18	Crystal	14,253	–
19	Kelly	13,710	▼ 3
20	Erin	13,428	▲ 1
21	Laura	12,917	▼ 1
22	Amber	12,553	–
23	Rachel	11,619	▲ 4
24	Jamie	11,529	▼ 5
25	Mary	11,475	▼ 1
26	April	11,473	▼ 3
27	Sara	11,149	▲ 3
28	Andrea	10,451	▼ 2
29	Shannon	9,670	▼ 4
30	Megan	9,134	▲ 1
31	Emily	9,002	▲ 3
32	Julie	8,909	▼ 3
33	Danielle	8,845	–
34	Erica	8,761	▼ 2
35	Katherine	8,018	▲ 1
36	Maria	7,875	▲ 1
37	Kristin	7,701	▲ 36
38	Lauren	7,477	▲ 7
39	Kristen	7,315	▲ 23
40	Ashley	7,296	▲ 27
41	Christine	7,085	▼ 6
42	Brandy	6,410	▼ 3
43	Tara	6,284	▼ 5
44	Katie	6,137	▲ 19
45	Monica	6,035	▼ 5
46	Carrie	5,762	▼ 5
47	Alicia	5,753	–
48	Courtney	5,618	▲ 23
49	Misty	5,542	▼ 7
50	Kathryn	5,528	–
51	Patricia	5,310	▼ 7
52	Holly	5,282	▼ 4
53	Stacy	5,058	▼ 10
54	Karen	5,055	▼ 8
55	Anna	5,037	▲ 4
56	Tracy	4,969	▼ 7
57	Brooke	4,951	▲ 28
58	Samantha	4,913	▲ 8
59	Allison	4,868	▲ 11
60	Melanie	4,840	▼ 7
61	Leslie	4,776	▲ 4
62	Brandi	4,704	▼ 1
63	Susan	4,704	▼ 12
64	Cynthia	4,700	▼ 9
65	Natalie	4,647	▲ 3
66	Jill	4,558	▼ 14
67	Dawn	4,479	▼ 10
68	Dana	4,438	▼ 14
69	Vanessa	4,426	▲ 6
70	Veronica	4,381	▲ 6
71	Lindsay	4,353	▲ 17
72	Tina	4,260	▼ 14
73	Kristina	4,223	▲ 1
74	Stacey	4,222	▼ 14
75	Wendy	4,141	▼ 11
76	Lori	4,085	▼ 7
77	Catherine	4,080	▲ 1
78	Kristy	4,059	▼ 22
79	Heidi	4,027	▲ 4
80	Sandra	4,002	▼ 3
81	Jacqueline	3,879	▼ 1
82	Kathleen	3,857	▲ 2
83	Christy	3,673	▼ 11
84	Leah	3,642	▲ 14
85	Valerie	3,613	▲ 4
86	Pamela	3,535	▲ 4
87	Erika	3,517	▲ 4
88	Tanya	3,436	▲ 5
89	Natasha	3,428	▲ 21
90	Katrina	3,397	▲ 9
91	Lindsey	3,386	▲ 22
92	Melinda	3,201	▼ 10
93	Monique	3,163	▲ 48
94	Teresa	3,148	▼ 7
95	Denise	3,146	▼ 3
96	Tammy	3,134	▼ 17
97	Tonya	3,081	▼ 11
98	Julia	3,069	▲ 24
99	Candice	3,012	▲ 29
100	Gina	2,991	▼ 4

Source: US Social Security Administration baby name data, 1980. Counts are Social Security card applications for US births; SSA leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies in a year. Updated 2026-10-05. How these numbers are made.