Most popular baby names of 1981

In 1981, the most popular names for US babies were Michael for boys (68,759 babies, 3.8% of boys) and Jennifer for girls (57,048 babies, 3.4% of girls). The rest of the top five were Christopher, Matthew, Jason and David for boys and Jessica, Amanda, Sarah and Melissa for girls. SSA recorded 7,289 different boy names and 12,195 different girl names that year.

Top 100 boy names, 1981
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Michael	68,759	–
2	Christopher	50,221	–
3	Matthew	43,328	▲ 3
4	Jason	41,928	▼ 1
5	David	40,633	▼ 1
6	Joshua	39,027	▲ 1
7	James	38,289	▼ 2
8	John	34,872	–
9	Robert	34,397	–
10	Daniel	30,989	▲ 1
11	Joseph	30,764	▼ 1
12	Justin	27,308	▲ 1
13	Ryan	26,814	▲ 2
14	Brian	26,582	▼ 2
15	William	24,801	▼ 1
16	Jonathan	22,593	▲ 5
17	Eric	20,715	▼ 1
18	Andrew	20,234	▲ 1
19	Brandon	20,205	▲ 12
20	Adam	20,042	▲ 2
21	Nicholas	19,777	▼ 4
22	Jeremy	19,111	▼ 4
23	Anthony	18,574	▲ 1
24	Timothy	18,228	▼ 4
25	Kevin	17,456	▼ 2
26	Thomas	17,160	▼ 1
27	Richard	16,855	▼ 1
28	Steven	16,484	–
29	Jeffrey	15,932	▼ 2
30	Aaron	14,692	▲ 4
31	Charles	14,428	▼ 2
32	Benjamin	14,361	–
33	Mark	13,544	▼ 3
34	Scott	12,721	▼ 1
35	Paul	11,778	–
36	Nathan	11,258	–
37	Jesse	10,444	▲ 8
38	Patrick	10,384	–
39	Stephen	10,302	▲ 1
40	Travis	10,109	▼ 3
41	Kenneth	9,473	–
42	Dustin	9,353	▲ 2
43	Jacob	9,345	–
44	Sean	8,892	▲ 4
45	Jose	8,773	▲ 1
46	Gregory	8,758	▼ 4
47	Chad	8,413	▼ 8
48	Bryan	7,215	▲ 1
49	Shawn	7,076	▼ 2
50	Bradley	6,896	▲ 1
51	Edward	6,661	▲ 1
52	Kyle	6,571	▲ 5
53	Derek	6,481	▼ 3
54	Samuel	6,037	–
55	Peter	5,999	–
56	Donald	5,911	▼ 3
57	Jared	5,865	▲ 4
58	Keith	5,621	▼ 2
59	Ronald	5,538	▼ 1
60	Juan	5,500	▼ 1
61	George	5,159	▼ 1
62	Gary	4,947	▲ 1
63	Zachary	4,846	▲ 9
64	Douglas	4,788	▼ 2
65	Joel	4,540	▲ 2
66	Phillip	4,539	▼ 1
67	Marcus	4,509	▲ 4
68	Raymond	4,367	▼ 2
69	Corey	4,247	▼ 1
70	Alexander	4,236	▲ 21
71	Carlos	4,182	▲ 6
72	Craig	4,095	▲ 1
73	Larry	3,954	▼ 3
74	Todd	3,953	▲ 1
75	Antonio	3,926	▲ 3
76	Erik	3,922	▼ 12
77	Jeremiah	3,896	▼ 1
78	Derrick	3,850	▼ 4
79	Brett	3,775	▲ 17
80	Nathaniel	3,719	▲ 6
81	Shane	3,711	▼ 12
82	Frank	3,640	▼ 1
83	Dennis	3,634	▼ 3
84	Philip	3,581	▼ 2
85	Casey	3,518	▲ 8
86	Shaun	3,383	▼ 7
87	Gabriel	3,373	▼ 2
88	Lucas	3,372	▲ 10
89	Brent	3,370	▼ 5
90	Cory	3,355	▼ 7
91	Luis	3,343	▼ 3
92	Randy	3,343	▼ 5
93	Jeffery	3,335	▼ 3
94	Curtis	3,198	▼ 5
95	Seth	3,137	▲ 4
96	Tyler	3,117	▲ 18
97	Jerry	3,056	▼ 3
98	Russell	3,048	▼ 6
99	Wesley	3,042	▼ 4
100	Luke	3,015	▼ 3

Top 100 girl names, 1981
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Jennifer	57,048	–
2	Jessica	42,532	▲ 1
3	Amanda	34,373	▼ 1
4	Sarah	28,174	▲ 1
5	Melissa	28,005	▼ 1
6	Amy	20,344	▲ 2
7	Nicole	20,311	–
8	Stephanie	20,213	▲ 5
9	Elizabeth	20,169	–
10	Heather	17,946	▼ 4
11	Michelle	17,782	▼ 1
12	Rebecca	16,737	▲ 5
13	Kimberly	16,689	▼ 2
14	Tiffany	16,416	–
15	Angela	15,926	▼ 3
16	Crystal	15,888	▲ 2
17	Christina	14,392	▼ 2
18	Lisa	14,295	▼ 2
19	Erin	13,853	▲ 1
20	Amber	13,813	▲ 2
21	Laura	13,291	–
22	Rachel	12,590	▲ 1
23	Kelly	11,873	▼ 4
24	Andrea	11,685	▲ 4
25	April	11,405	▲ 1
26	Sara	11,358	▲ 1
27	Mary	11,043	▼ 2
28	Jamie	10,982	▼ 4
29	Emily	10,799	▲ 2
30	Danielle	10,039	▲ 3
31	Kristin	9,737	▲ 6
32	Shannon	9,227	▼ 3
33	Megan	8,966	▼ 3
34	Ashley	8,874	▲ 6
35	Lauren	8,813	▲ 3
36	Erica	8,624	▼ 2
37	Julie	8,568	▼ 5
38	Kristen	8,541	▲ 1
39	Katherine	8,433	▼ 4
40	Maria	7,683	▼ 4
41	Brandy	6,897	▲ 1
42	Christine	6,854	▼ 1
43	Courtney	6,638	▲ 5
44	Katie	6,600	–
45	Tara	6,366	▼ 2
46	Alicia	5,855	▲ 1
47	Lindsay	5,843	▲ 24
48	Kathryn	5,823	▲ 2
49	Monica	5,782	▼ 4
50	Brandi	5,527	▲ 12
51	Samantha	5,517	▲ 7
52	Brooke	5,330	▲ 5
53	Patricia	5,284	▼ 2
54	Anna	5,192	▲ 1
55	Carrie	5,093	▼ 9
56	Leslie	4,934	▲ 5
57	Allison	4,905	▲ 2
58	Lindsey	4,863	▲ 33
59	Cynthia	4,859	▲ 5
60	Natalie	4,859	▲ 5
61	Misty	4,799	▼ 12
62	Vanessa	4,749	▲ 7
63	Holly	4,564	▼ 11
64	Karen	4,539	▼ 10
65	Stacy	4,479	▼ 12
66	Melanie	4,474	▼ 6
67	Jacqueline	4,336	▲ 14
68	Veronica	4,313	▲ 2
69	Latoya	4,266	▲ 54
70	Dana	4,246	▼ 2
71	Susan	4,244	▼ 8
72	Kristina	4,060	▲ 1
73	Catherine	4,056	▲ 4
74	Sandra	4,036	▲ 6
75	Diana	3,971	▲ 43
76	Pamela	3,882	▲ 10
77	Tracy	3,869	▼ 21
78	Jill	3,857	▼ 12
79	Dawn	3,839	▼ 12
80	Tina	3,820	▼ 8
81	Leah	3,808	▲ 3
82	Kathleen	3,776	–
83	Stacey	3,754	▼ 9
84	Heidi	3,738	▼ 5
85	Natasha	3,730	▲ 4
86	Candice	3,698	▲ 13
87	Victoria	3,689	▲ 16
88	Julia	3,668	▲ 10
89	Valerie	3,611	▼ 4
90	Wendy	3,608	▼ 15
91	Lori	3,479	▼ 15
92	Tanya	3,408	▼ 4
93	Erika	3,398	▼ 6
94	Kristy	3,263	▼ 16
95	Katrina	3,258	▼ 5
96	Denise	3,201	▼ 1
97	Teresa	3,122	▼ 3
98	Renee	2,997	▲ 9
99	Christy	2,943	▼ 16
100	Theresa	2,943	▲ 4

Source: US Social Security Administration baby name data, 1981. 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.