Most popular baby names of 1986

In 1986, the most popular names for US babies were Michael for boys (64,236 babies, 3.5% of boys) and Jessica for girls (52,684 babies, 3.1% of girls). The rest of the top five were Christopher, Matthew, Joshua and David for boys and Ashley, Amanda, Jennifer and Sarah for girls. SSA recorded 7,830 different boy names and 12,835 different girl names that year.

Top 100 boy names, 1986
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Michael	64,236	–
2	Christopher	56,697	–
3	Matthew	46,924	–
4	Joshua	37,541	–
5	David	37,149	▲ 1
6	Daniel	36,574	▼ 1
7	James	34,055	–
8	Andrew	33,859	▲ 3
9	Robert	31,351	▼ 1
10	John	30,208	▼ 1
11	Ryan	29,525	▲ 1
12	Joseph	28,832	▼ 2
13	Brandon	27,253	–
14	Justin	26,636	▲ 1
15	William	24,333	▲ 1
16	Jonathan	23,973	▲ 1
17	Nicholas	22,800	▲ 2
18	Jason	22,417	▼ 4
19	Anthony	21,959	▲ 1
20	Brian	21,029	▼ 2
21	Kevin	19,935	▲ 2
22	Eric	19,528	▼ 1
23	Kyle	19,315	▲ 4
24	Adam	18,155	▼ 2
25	Steven	18,099	▼ 1
26	Thomas	17,363	▼ 1
27	Timothy	16,875	▼ 1
28	Jeremy	16,268	▲ 2
29	Richard	15,012	▼ 1
30	Benjamin	13,793	▲ 1
31	Jacob	13,651	▲ 4
32	Jeffrey	13,650	▼ 3
33	Aaron	12,691	–
34	Charles	12,625	–
35	Mark	12,614	▼ 3
36	Stephen	11,875	–
37	Sean	11,784	▲ 1
38	Zachary	11,727	▲ 1
39	Patrick	11,409	▼ 2
40	Tyler	10,912	▲ 3
41	Alexander	10,610	▲ 9
42	Dustin	10,317	▼ 1
43	Nathan	9,996	▼ 3
44	Scott	9,966	–
45	Paul	9,716	▼ 3
46	Gregory	9,533	▼ 1
47	Bryan	8,651	▲ 1
48	Jesse	8,542	▲ 3
49	Travis	8,480	▼ 3
50	Kenneth	8,453	▼ 3
51	Jose	8,363	▼ 2
52	Samuel	7,580	▲ 2
53	Jordan	7,304	▲ 9
54	Bradley	7,043	▼ 1
55	Shawn	7,018	–
56	Cody	6,934	▼ 4
57	Derek	6,901	▼ 1
58	Jared	6,118	–
59	Chad	6,026	▼ 2
60	Peter	5,797	–
61	Edward	5,779	▼ 2
62	Corey	5,762	▲ 1
63	Marcus	5,279	▼ 2
64	Alex	5,112	▲ 16
65	Juan	5,076	–
66	Keith	5,040	▼ 2
67	Shane	4,929	▲ 1
68	Cory	4,871	▲ 13
69	Brett	4,731	▲ 1
70	Phillip	4,706	▼ 1
71	Donald	4,662	▼ 5
72	Joel	4,506	▼ 5
73	Antonio	4,406	–
74	George	4,346	▼ 2
75	Ronald	4,224	▼ 4
76	Carlos	4,089	▼ 2
77	Raymond	4,055	▼ 2
78	Nathaniel	4,031	▼ 1
79	Luis	4,027	▲ 6
80	Craig	3,926	▼ 1
81	Evan	3,888	▲ 10
82	Douglas	3,763	▼ 6
83	Casey	3,762	▲ 3
84	Gary	3,719	▼ 2
85	Ian	3,714	▼ 7
86	Philip	3,665	▼ 2
87	Derrick	3,326	▼ 4
88	Victor	3,293	–
89	Christian	3,214	▲ 12
90	Austin	3,202	▲ 17
91	Frank	3,178	▼ 1
92	Erik	3,110	▼ 5
93	Vincent	3,092	▲ 2
94	Brent	3,061	▼ 5
95	Gabriel	3,046	▼ 3
96	Wesley	3,043	▼ 2
97	Seth	2,981	▲ 8
98	Trevor	2,979	▲ 6
99	Adrian	2,943	▼ 6
100	Curtis	2,909	▼ 2

Top 100 girl names, 1986
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Jessica	52,684	–
2	Ashley	49,672	–
3	Amanda	40,532	▲ 1
4	Jennifer	36,189	▼ 1
5	Sarah	28,164	–
6	Stephanie	22,648	–
7	Nicole	21,292	–
8	Brittany	20,313	▲ 9
9	Heather	19,789	▼ 1
10	Elizabeth	19,074	▼ 1
11	Megan	18,591	▼ 1
12	Melissa	17,667	▼ 1
13	Amber	16,955	▲ 3
14	Lauren	16,683	▲ 1
15	Rachel	15,456	▼ 2
16	Danielle	14,943	▲ 2
17	Tiffany	14,483	▲ 6
18	Kimberly	14,418	▲ 1
19	Christina	14,386	▼ 7
20	Laura	14,173	▼ 6
21	Samantha	14,092	▲ 8
22	Amy	13,451	▼ 2
23	Michelle	13,303	▼ 1
24	Emily	13,236	–
25	Crystal	12,689	▼ 4
26	Rebecca	11,793	▼ 1
27	Sara	11,052	▲ 3
28	Katherine	10,570	▲ 4
29	Kelly	10,411	▼ 1
30	Erin	10,068	▼ 4
31	Erica	9,972	▲ 3
32	Whitney	9,536	▲ 41
33	Angela	9,269	▼ 2
34	Jamie	9,234	▼ 7
35	Courtney	9,122	▲ 8
36	Andrea	8,640	▼ 3
37	Mary	8,507	▼ 2
38	Katie	8,333	▲ 1
39	Lindsey	8,051	▼ 2
40	Lisa	7,906	▼ 4
41	Kristen	7,844	▼ 3
42	Allison	7,575	▲ 4
43	Vanessa	7,468	▼ 1
44	Shannon	7,403	▼ 3
45	Alicia	7,017	–
46	Lindsay	6,952	▼ 6
47	Christine	6,917	▼ 3
48	Kathryn	6,393	–
49	Maria	6,141	▲ 3
50	Kristin	6,000	▼ 1
51	Anna	5,906	▲ 3
52	Natalie	5,707	▲ 6
53	April	5,677	▼ 6
54	Victoria	5,676	▲ 5
55	Jenna	5,416	▼ 5
56	Tara	5,085	▼ 5
57	Jacqueline	5,036	▲ 3
58	Julie	5,016	▼ 3
59	Monica	5,014	▲ 2
60	Cassandra	4,989	▲ 2
61	Krystal	4,929	▼ 8
62	Holly	4,839	▼ 6
63	Kristina	4,839	▼ 6
64	Kayla	4,657	▲ 45
65	Brittney	4,593	▲ 19
66	Patricia	4,246	▼ 2
67	Catherine	4,242	▼ 2
68	Kathleen	4,129	–
69	Caitlin	3,881	▲ 8
70	Natasha	3,872	▲ 9
71	Meghan	3,869	▼ 8
72	Alexandra	3,809	▲ 20
73	Chelsea	3,753	▲ 2
74	Erika	3,678	▲ 6
75	Diana	3,669	▼ 1
76	Valerie	3,618	▼ 5
77	Veronica	3,579	▼ 5
78	Leah	3,457	–
79	Brandi	3,432	▼ 10
80	Casey	3,423	▲ 34
81	Cynthia	3,422	▼ 15
82	Hannah	3,388	▲ 35
83	Mallory	3,325	▲ 61
84	Brandy	3,295	▼ 14
85	Alyssa	3,225	▲ 45
86	Leslie	3,225	▼ 10
87	Stacy	3,220	▼ 20
88	Julia	3,109	▼ 3
89	Margaret	3,085	▲ 1
90	Felicia	3,084	▲ 11
91	Bethany	3,082	▲ 3
92	Dana	3,076	▼ 10
93	Krista	3,054	▲ 41
94	Stacey	3,041	▼ 5
95	Jasmine	2,992	▲ 8
96	Alison	2,975	▲ 1
97	Melanie	2,973	▼ 9
98	Dominique	2,944	▼ 15
99	Katrina	2,829	▼ 6
100	Karen	2,801	▼ 13

Source: US Social Security Administration baby name data, 1986. 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.