Most popular baby names of 1983

In 1983, the most popular names for US babies were Michael for boys (67,997 babies, 3.8% of boys) and Jennifer for girls (54,355 babies, 3.3% of girls). The rest of the top five were Christopher, Matthew, David and Joshua for boys and Jessica, Amanda, Ashley and Sarah for girls. SSA recorded 7,344 different boy names and 12,073 different girl names that year.

Top 100 boy names, 1983
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Michael	67,997	–
2	Christopher	59,329	–
3	Matthew	50,208	–
4	David	39,206	▲ 1
5	Joshua	36,688	▲ 2
6	James	36,344	–
7	Jason	35,118	▼ 3
8	Daniel	34,748	▲ 2
9	John	33,158	▼ 1
10	Robert	32,744	▼ 1
11	Joseph	30,444	–
12	Justin	28,301	–
13	Ryan	27,849	–
14	Brian	26,047	–
15	Andrew	25,564	▲ 2
16	William	25,396	▼ 1
17	Brandon	23,516	▲ 1
18	Adam	23,489	▲ 1
19	Jonathan	22,756	▼ 3
20	Eric	20,356	–
21	Nicholas	19,894	▲ 1
22	Anthony	19,832	▼ 1
23	Steven	18,311	▲ 3
24	Thomas	17,565	▼ 1
25	Kevin	17,378	▼ 1
26	Timothy	16,363	▼ 1
27	Richard	15,891	–
28	Jeffrey	15,653	▲ 1
29	Aaron	14,461	▲ 1
30	Jeremy	14,257	▼ 2
31	Mark	13,818	▲ 1
32	Benjamin	13,286	▲ 1
33	Charles	13,213	▼ 2
34	Kyle	12,372	▲ 13
35	Stephen	11,564	▲ 3
36	Jacob	10,998	▲ 5
37	Patrick	10,874	–
38	Scott	10,847	▼ 4
39	Paul	10,826	▼ 4
40	Nathan	10,558	▼ 4
41	Travis	10,480	▼ 2
42	Gregory	9,982	▼ 2
43	Dustin	9,679	▼ 1
44	Sean	9,616	–
45	Kenneth	8,965	–
46	Jesse	8,469	▼ 3
47	Bryan	8,191	▲ 2
48	Jose	8,074	▼ 2
49	Chad	7,392	▼ 1
50	Zachary	7,309	▲ 5
51	Derek	6,988	▼ 1
52	Bradley	6,738	▼ 1
53	Shawn	6,360	▼ 1
54	Samuel	6,195	▲ 2
55	Edward	6,005	▼ 2
56	Jared	5,853	▼ 2
57	Tyler	5,822	▲ 9
58	Marcus	5,638	▲ 5
59	Peter	5,484	▼ 2
60	Donald	5,327	▼ 2
61	Keith	5,313	▼ 2
62	Juan	4,894	▼ 1
63	Alexander	4,806	▲ 2
64	Ronald	4,702	▼ 4
65	George	4,496	▼ 3
66	Phillip	4,470	▲ 1
67	Joel	4,345	▲ 2
68	Gary	4,269	▼ 4
69	Douglas	4,182	▼ 1
70	Craig	4,085	▲ 3
71	Jordan	4,015	▲ 14
72	Raymond	4,015	▼ 2
73	Brett	3,975	▼ 1
74	Corey	3,967	–
75	Carlos	3,912	▼ 4
76	Antonio	3,684	–
77	Ian	3,665	▲ 6
78	Derrick	3,656	–
79	Nathaniel	3,641	▼ 4
80	Erik	3,636	–
81	Cody	3,505	▲ 14
82	Philip	3,489	▼ 3
83	Shane	3,404	▲ 1
84	Cory	3,403	▲ 9
85	Larry	3,381	▼ 8
86	Frank	3,362	▼ 5
87	Todd	3,337	▼ 5
88	Luis	3,322	▲ 2
89	Gabriel	3,269	▼ 1
90	Casey	3,228	▼ 4
91	Jeffery	3,155	▲ 1
92	Dennis	3,047	▼ 5
93	Evan	3,046	▲ 15
94	Brent	3,030	▼ 3
95	Victor	2,970	▲ 4
96	Randy	2,926	▼ 2
97	Vincent	2,893	▲ 6
98	Seth	2,857	▲ 4
99	Jeremiah	2,849	▼ 10
100	Curtis	2,847	▲ 1

Top 100 girl names, 1983
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Jennifer	54,355	–
2	Jessica	45,284	–
3	Amanda	33,750	–
4	Ashley	33,291	▲ 13
5	Sarah	27,230	▼ 1
6	Melissa	23,474	▼ 1
7	Nicole	22,400	▼ 1
8	Stephanie	22,331	▼ 1
9	Heather	20,747	▲ 3
10	Elizabeth	19,842	▼ 2
11	Crystal	17,907	▼ 2
12	Amy	17,096	▼ 2
13	Michelle	16,838	▼ 2
14	Tiffany	15,959	▼ 1
15	Kimberly	15,370	▼ 1
16	Christina	15,358	▲ 3
17	Amber	14,893	▲ 1
18	Erin	14,837	▲ 2
19	Rebecca	14,714	▼ 4
20	Rachel	14,592	▲ 1
21	Megan	14,124	▲ 13
22	Angela	13,218	▼ 6
23	Laura	13,199	▼ 1
24	Lauren	12,944	▲ 2
25	Emily	12,377	▼ 1
26	Kelly	11,587	▼ 1
27	Lisa	11,471	▼ 4
28	Jamie	11,025	▲ 1
29	Danielle	10,634	▲ 2
30	Andrea	10,414	▼ 3
31	Sara	10,086	▼ 3
32	Mary	9,896	▼ 2
33	Erica	9,713	▲ 2
34	Katherine	9,683	▲ 2
35	Lindsey	8,679	▲ 5
36	Lindsay	8,622	▲ 3
37	Kristen	8,618	▼ 4
38	Shannon	8,425	–
39	April	8,209	▼ 7
40	Samantha	7,704	▲ 4
41	Alicia	7,492	▲ 12
42	Kristin	7,267	▼ 5
43	Maria	6,848	▼ 1
44	Courtney	6,748	▼ 1
45	Katie	6,704	–
46	Julie	6,652	▼ 5
47	Christine	6,499	▼ 1
48	Holly	6,388	▲ 13
49	Vanessa	6,388	–
50	Kathryn	6,372	▼ 2
51	Tara	6,273	▼ 4
52	Natalie	5,723	▼ 1
53	Jacqueline	5,404	▲ 1
54	Monica	5,404	▼ 2
55	Anna	5,218	▲ 1
56	Brandi	5,203	▼ 1
57	Brandy	5,194	▼ 7
58	Victoria	5,046	▲ 8
59	Allison	4,973	▼ 1
60	Patricia	4,926	▼ 1
61	Stacy	4,678	▲ 11
62	Cynthia	4,553	▲ 2
63	Kristina	4,382	▲ 7
64	Brittany	4,377	▲ 30
65	Carrie	4,296	▼ 8
66	Catherine	4,251	▲ 7
67	Leslie	4,249	▼ 7
68	Veronica	4,069	▲ 1
69	Diana	4,039	▼ 6
70	Cassandra	4,005	▼ 8
71	Natasha	3,955	–
72	Dana	3,926	▼ 5
73	Kathleen	3,924	▲ 4
74	Valerie	3,902	▲ 1
75	Meghan	3,888	▲ 35
76	Stacey	3,799	▲ 9
77	Karen	3,788	▼ 9
78	Krystal	3,716	▲ 5
79	Melanie	3,553	▼ 14
80	Erika	3,548	▲ 1
81	Kayla	3,527	▲ 52
82	Leah	3,484	▼ 3
83	Alexis	3,462	▲ 10
84	Candice	3,420	▼ 6
85	Julia	3,382	▼ 1
86	Susan	3,357	▼ 10
87	Misty	3,189	▼ 13
88	Sandra	3,175	▼ 8
89	Tracy	3,158	▼ 1
90	Latoya	3,150	▲ 1
91	Pamela	3,030	▼ 9
92	Margaret	2,944	▲ 5
93	Nichole	2,926	▲ 6
94	Desiree	2,915	▲ 48
95	Heidi	2,915	▼ 9
96	Brooke	2,862	▼ 4
97	Renee	2,846	▲ 4
98	Jill	2,787	▼ 9
99	Bethany	2,765	▲ 13
100	Tina	2,739	▼ 10

Source: US Social Security Administration baby name data, 1983. 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.