Most popular baby names of 1982

In 1982, the most popular names for US babies were Michael for boys (68,228 babies, 3.8% of boys) and Jennifer for girls (57,118 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 7,368 different boy names and 12,331 different girl names that year.

Top 100 boy names, 1982
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Michael	68,228	–
2	Christopher	59,229	–
3	Matthew	46,050	–
4	Jason	40,634	–
5	David	40,456	–
6	James	38,875	▲ 1
7	Joshua	38,003	▼ 1
8	John	34,707	–
9	Robert	34,414	–
10	Daniel	32,654	–
11	Joseph	31,041	–
12	Justin	29,111	–
13	Ryan	26,686	–
14	Brian	25,830	–
15	William	25,606	–
16	Jonathan	23,114	–
17	Andrew	22,836	▲ 1
18	Brandon	20,215	▲ 1
19	Adam	20,102	▲ 1
20	Eric	19,879	▼ 3
21	Anthony	19,651	▲ 2
22	Nicholas	19,642	▼ 1
23	Thomas	17,579	▲ 3
24	Kevin	17,465	▲ 1
25	Timothy	17,463	▼ 1
26	Steven	17,148	▲ 2
27	Richard	16,720	–
28	Jeremy	16,465	▼ 6
29	Jeffrey	16,031	–
30	Aaron	14,407	–
31	Charles	14,311	–
32	Mark	13,866	▲ 1
33	Benjamin	13,813	▼ 1
34	Scott	12,199	–
35	Paul	11,310	–
36	Nathan	10,806	–
37	Patrick	10,697	▲ 1
38	Stephen	10,631	▲ 1
39	Travis	10,415	▲ 1
40	Gregory	10,146	▲ 6
41	Jacob	10,061	▲ 2
42	Dustin	9,550	–
43	Jesse	9,504	▼ 6
44	Sean	9,360	–
45	Kenneth	9,356	▼ 4
46	Jose	8,622	▼ 1
47	Kyle	8,208	▲ 5
48	Chad	7,909	▼ 1
49	Bryan	7,499	▼ 1
50	Derek	6,991	▲ 3
51	Bradley	6,978	▼ 1
52	Shawn	6,844	▼ 3
53	Edward	6,281	▼ 2
54	Jared	6,263	▲ 3
55	Zachary	6,140	▲ 8
56	Samuel	6,017	▼ 2
57	Peter	5,777	▼ 2
58	Donald	5,712	▼ 2
59	Keith	5,620	▼ 1
60	Ronald	5,208	▼ 1
61	Juan	5,122	▼ 1
62	George	4,991	▼ 1
63	Marcus	4,988	▲ 4
64	Gary	4,640	▼ 2
65	Alexander	4,592	▲ 5
66	Tyler	4,578	▲ 30
67	Phillip	4,520	▼ 1
68	Douglas	4,512	▼ 4
69	Joel	4,446	▼ 4
70	Raymond	4,294	▼ 2
71	Carlos	4,269	–
72	Brett	4,026	▲ 7
73	Craig	4,022	▼ 1
74	Corey	3,939	▼ 5
75	Nathaniel	3,938	▲ 5
76	Antonio	3,886	▼ 1
77	Larry	3,720	▼ 4
78	Derrick	3,657	–
79	Philip	3,643	▲ 5
80	Erik	3,633	▼ 4
81	Frank	3,605	▲ 1
82	Todd	3,600	▼ 8
83	Ian	3,576	▲ 18
84	Shane	3,540	▼ 3
85	Jordan	3,535	▲ 17
86	Casey	3,427	▼ 1
87	Dennis	3,392	▼ 4
88	Gabriel	3,363	▼ 1
89	Jeremiah	3,329	▼ 12
90	Luis	3,324	▲ 1
91	Brent	3,321	▼ 2
92	Jeffery	3,313	▲ 1
93	Cory	3,237	▼ 3
94	Randy	3,228	▼ 2
95	Cody	3,180	▲ 24
96	Shaun	3,154	▼ 10
97	Russell	3,033	▲ 1
98	Wesley	3,030	▲ 1
99	Victor	3,002	▲ 5
100	Jerry	2,942	▼ 3

Top 100 girl names, 1982
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Jennifer	57,118	–
2	Jessica	45,449	–
3	Amanda	34,214	–
4	Sarah	28,488	–
5	Melissa	25,866	–
6	Nicole	21,706	▲ 1
7	Stephanie	20,861	▲ 1
8	Elizabeth	20,507	▲ 1
9	Crystal	19,098	▲ 7
10	Amy	18,800	▼ 4
11	Michelle	17,765	–
12	Heather	17,495	▼ 2
13	Tiffany	17,174	▲ 1
14	Kimberly	16,101	▼ 1
15	Rebecca	15,729	▼ 3
16	Angela	15,002	▼ 1
17	Ashley	14,854	▲ 17
18	Amber	14,677	▲ 2
19	Christina	14,518	▼ 2
20	Erin	14,362	▼ 1
21	Rachel	13,873	▲ 1
22	Laura	13,310	▼ 1
23	Lisa	12,637	▼ 5
24	Emily	12,521	▲ 5
25	Kelly	12,170	▼ 2
26	Lauren	11,591	▲ 9
27	Andrea	11,374	▼ 3
28	Sara	11,345	▼ 2
29	Jamie	11,040	▼ 1
30	Mary	10,851	▼ 3
31	Danielle	10,203	▼ 1
32	April	10,060	▼ 7
33	Kristen	9,533	▲ 5
34	Megan	9,518	▼ 1
35	Erica	9,343	▲ 1
36	Katherine	9,180	▲ 3
37	Kristin	8,733	▼ 6
38	Shannon	8,623	▼ 6
39	Lindsay	8,260	▲ 8
40	Lindsey	7,961	▲ 18
41	Julie	7,695	▼ 4
42	Maria	7,346	▼ 2
43	Courtney	7,100	–
44	Samantha	6,768	▲ 7
45	Katie	6,681	▼ 1
46	Christine	6,555	▼ 4
47	Tara	6,524	▼ 2
48	Kathryn	6,284	–
49	Vanessa	6,153	▲ 13
50	Brandy	6,078	▼ 9
51	Natalie	5,962	▲ 9
52	Monica	5,734	▼ 3
53	Alicia	5,615	▼ 7
54	Jacqueline	5,492	▲ 13
55	Brandi	5,469	▼ 5
56	Anna	5,270	▼ 2
57	Carrie	5,186	▼ 2
58	Allison	5,171	▼ 1
59	Patricia	5,168	▼ 6
60	Leslie	4,984	▼ 4
61	Holly	4,682	▲ 2
62	Cassandra	4,664	▲ 42
63	Diana	4,430	▲ 12
64	Cynthia	4,427	▼ 5
65	Melanie	4,255	▲ 1
66	Victoria	4,255	▲ 21
67	Dana	4,241	▲ 3
68	Karen	4,153	▼ 4
69	Veronica	4,150	▼ 1
70	Kristina	4,149	▲ 2
71	Natasha	4,128	▲ 14
72	Stacy	4,099	▼ 7
73	Catherine	4,098	–
74	Misty	4,071	▼ 13
75	Valerie	3,989	▲ 14
76	Susan	3,969	▼ 5
77	Kathleen	3,949	▲ 5
78	Candice	3,791	▲ 8
79	Leah	3,762	▲ 2
80	Sandra	3,654	▼ 6
81	Erika	3,596	▲ 12
82	Pamela	3,546	▼ 6
83	Krystal	3,504	▲ 48
84	Julia	3,503	▲ 4
85	Stacey	3,460	▼ 2
86	Heidi	3,392	▼ 2
87	Katrina	3,322	▲ 8
88	Tracy	3,283	▼ 11
89	Jill	3,271	▼ 11
90	Tina	3,220	▼ 10
91	Latoya	3,201	▼ 22
92	Brooke	3,143	▼ 40
93	Alexis	3,122	▲ 79
94	Brittany	3,102	▲ 71
95	Dawn	3,088	▼ 16
96	Jillian	3,056	▲ 41
97	Margaret	2,997	▲ 10
98	Lori	2,978	▼ 7
99	Nichole	2,923	▲ 10
100	Denise	2,895	▼ 4

Source: US Social Security Administration baby name data, 1982. 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.