Most popular baby names of 1987

In 1987, the most popular names for US babies were Michael for boys (63,663 babies, 3.4% of boys) and Jessica for girls (55,996 babies, 3.2% 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 8,152 different boy names and 13,264 different girl names that year.

Top 100 boy names, 1987
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Michael	63,663	–
2	Christopher	54,494	–
3	Matthew	46,507	–
4	Joshua	40,004	–
5	David	36,796	–
6	Andrew	36,205	▲ 2
7	Daniel	35,875	▼ 1
8	James	32,660	▼ 1
9	Justin	31,492	▲ 5
10	Robert	30,240	▼ 1
11	John	29,553	▼ 1
12	Joseph	28,519	–
13	Ryan	28,490	▼ 2
14	Brandon	24,823	▼ 1
15	William	24,203	–
16	Nicholas	23,249	▲ 1
17	Anthony	23,123	▲ 2
18	Jonathan	23,120	▼ 2
19	Kevin	20,421	▲ 2
20	Brian	20,363	–
21	Eric	20,203	▲ 1
22	Kyle	19,866	▲ 1
23	Jason	19,349	▼ 5
24	Thomas	18,137	▲ 2
25	Steven	17,769	–
26	Timothy	17,397	▲ 1
27	Adam	16,931	▼ 3
28	Benjamin	14,890	▲ 2
29	Jeremy	14,473	▼ 1
30	Richard	14,402	▼ 1
31	Jacob	14,326	–
32	Jeffrey	13,477	–
33	Zachary	13,203	▲ 5
34	Aaron	12,684	▼ 1
35	Charles	12,176	▼ 1
36	Mark	11,996	▼ 1
37	Alexander	11,837	▲ 4
38	Stephen	11,551	▼ 2
39	Tyler	11,539	▲ 1
40	Sean	11,455	▼ 3
41	Patrick	11,143	▼ 2
42	Travis	10,397	▲ 7
43	Scott	10,193	▲ 1
44	Dustin	10,108	▼ 2
45	Nathan	9,910	▼ 2
46	Paul	9,706	▼ 1
47	Gregory	9,136	▼ 1
48	Jose	8,738	▲ 3
49	Cody	8,675	▲ 7
50	Samuel	8,576	▲ 2
51	Bryan	8,561	▼ 4
52	Jordan	8,406	▲ 1
53	Kenneth	8,354	▼ 3
54	Derek	8,253	▲ 3
55	Jesse	7,982	▼ 7
56	Bradley	6,916	▼ 2
57	Corey	6,443	▲ 5
58	Jared	6,206	–
59	Shawn	6,202	▼ 4
60	Alex	6,043	▲ 4
61	Edward	5,911	–
62	Cory	5,849	▲ 6
63	Chad	5,622	▼ 4
64	Peter	5,554	▼ 4
65	Shane	5,305	▲ 2
66	Juan	4,976	▼ 1
67	Marcus	4,950	▼ 4
68	Phillip	4,814	▲ 2
69	Keith	4,782	▼ 3
70	Donald	4,501	▲ 1
71	Brett	4,429	▼ 2
72	Antonio	4,421	▲ 1
73	Ronald	4,153	▲ 2
74	Carlos	4,148	▲ 2
75	Joel	4,138	▼ 3
76	Austin	4,096	▲ 14
77	George	4,089	▼ 3
78	Nathaniel	4,050	–
79	Raymond	3,996	▼ 2
80	Casey	3,926	▲ 3
81	Ian	3,924	▲ 4
82	Luis	3,920	▼ 3
83	Evan	3,869	▼ 2
84	Philip	3,839	▲ 2
85	Douglas	3,803	▼ 3
86	Derrick	3,534	▲ 1
87	Gary	3,486	▼ 3
88	Craig	3,364	▼ 8
89	Seth	3,338	▲ 8
90	Christian	3,324	▼ 1
91	Victor	3,307	▼ 3
92	Wesley	3,244	▲ 4
93	Trevor	3,236	▲ 5
94	Erik	3,231	▼ 2
95	Vincent	3,174	▼ 2
96	Cameron	3,159	▲ 39
97	Frank	3,124	▼ 6
98	Gabriel	3,079	▼ 3
99	Devin	3,076	▲ 14
100	Curtis	2,909	–

Top 100 girl names, 1987
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Jessica	55,996	–
2	Ashley	54,853	–
3	Amanda	41,786	–
4	Jennifer	32,708	–
5	Sarah	27,895	–
6	Stephanie	22,402	–
7	Brittany	22,231	▲ 1
8	Nicole	20,286	▼ 1
9	Heather	18,982	–
10	Elizabeth	18,608	–
11	Samantha	17,944	▲ 10
12	Megan	17,823	▼ 1
13	Melissa	17,674	▼ 1
14	Danielle	17,009	▲ 2
15	Amber	16,749	▼ 2
16	Lauren	16,708	▼ 2
17	Rachel	15,644	▼ 2
18	Tiffany	14,743	▼ 1
19	Emily	14,711	▲ 5
20	Christina	13,818	▼ 1
21	Michelle	13,034	▲ 2
22	Laura	13,032	▼ 2
23	Kimberly	13,030	▼ 5
24	Amy	11,787	▼ 2
25	Rebecca	11,626	▲ 1
26	Crystal	11,011	▼ 1
27	Kayla	10,579	▲ 37
28	Katherine	10,438	–
29	Sara	10,090	▼ 2
30	Kelly	9,866	▼ 1
31	Erica	9,328	–
32	Whitney	8,923	–
33	Courtney	8,909	▲ 2
34	Erin	8,847	▼ 4
35	Angela	8,581	▼ 2
36	Andrea	8,496	–
37	Mary	8,395	–
38	Katie	8,196	–
39	Jamie	7,916	▼ 5
40	Lisa	7,549	–
41	Lindsey	7,457	▼ 2
42	Kristen	7,360	▼ 1
43	Vanessa	7,348	–
44	Allison	7,340	▼ 2
45	Shannon	6,968	▼ 1
46	Alicia	6,776	▼ 1
47	Chelsea	6,630	▲ 26
48	Christine	6,620	▼ 1
49	Lindsay	6,530	▼ 3
50	Victoria	6,255	▲ 4
51	Kathryn	6,237	▼ 3
52	Anna	6,169	▼ 1
53	Maria	5,677	▼ 4
54	Jacqueline	5,627	▲ 3
55	Kristin	5,463	▼ 5
56	Natalie	5,330	▼ 4
57	Jenna	5,305	▼ 2
58	April	5,295	▼ 5
59	Alexandra	5,219	▲ 13
60	Alyssa	5,136	▲ 25
61	Brittney	5,127	▲ 4
62	Kristina	5,018	▲ 1
63	Caitlin	4,989	▲ 6
64	Monica	4,809	▼ 5
65	Julie	4,739	▼ 7
66	Hannah	4,594	▲ 16
67	Kelsey	4,574	▲ 45
68	Cassandra	4,555	▼ 8
69	Tara	4,446	▼ 13
70	Krystal	4,378	▼ 9
71	Holly	4,259	▼ 9
72	Kathleen	4,165	▼ 4
73	Natasha	4,131	▼ 3
74	Catherine	4,108	▼ 7
75	Erika	3,994	▼ 1
76	Patricia	3,913	▼ 10
77	Kendra	3,841	▲ 24
78	Meghan	3,771	▼ 7
79	Jasmine	3,723	▲ 16
80	Veronica	3,616	▼ 3
81	Casey	3,582	▼ 1
82	Leah	3,454	▼ 4
83	Dana	3,422	▲ 9
84	Cynthia	3,392	▼ 3
85	Diana	3,355	▼ 10
86	Julia	3,331	▲ 2
87	Bethany	3,294	▲ 4
88	Brandi	3,244	▼ 9
89	Leslie	3,194	▼ 3
90	Margaret	3,146	▼ 1
91	Mallory	3,138	▼ 8
92	Brandy	3,032	▼ 8
93	Valerie	2,964	▼ 17
94	Brooke	2,955	▲ 10
95	Morgan	2,928	▲ 18
96	Felicia	2,909	▼ 6
97	Molly	2,891	▲ 13
98	Rachael	2,833	▲ 5
99	Jillian	2,793	▲ 8
100	Alison	2,771	▼ 4

Source: US Social Security Administration baby name data, 1987. 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.