Most Popular Baby Names Since 1980

In this article we'll look at what the most popular baby names are since 1980. These names are taken directly from the Social Security card applications for births that occurred in the United States.

The table below shows the top 10 most popular baby names since 1980, with a total count for the number of births registered with that given name since 1980.

Boys Girls
Rank Name Count Name Count
1 Michael 1,549,211 Jessica 883,500
2 Christopher 1,237,911 Ashley 829,542
3 Matthew 1,179,577 Emily 730,061
4 Joshua 1,080,282 Sarah 676,581
5 Daniel 982,818 Jennifer 669,595
6 David 957,549 Amanda 620,480
7 James 940,632 Elizabeth 620,329
8 Joseph 894,584 Samantha 544,394
9 Jacob 884,703 Emma 490,107
10 Andrew 882,042 Olivia 482,108

More Popular Baby Names

You can also use the links below to research more about the most popular baby names.

Top 1000 most popular boy names: 1-250 | 251-500 | 501-750 | 751-1000

Top 1000 most popular girl names: 1-250 | 251-500 | 501-750 | 751-1000

Historical Data for Baby Names

If you're interested to see how the trends and popularity of baby names have changed, you can use the links below to view the historical data by decade.

Most popular first names, 1880-present | since 1950 | since 1960 | since 1970 | since 1980 | since 1990 | since 2000 | since 2010

Most popular boy names, 1880-present | since 1950 | since 1960 | since 1970 | since 1980 | since 1990 | since 2000 | since 2010

Most popular girl names, 1880-present | since 1950 | since 1960 | since 1970 | since 1980 | since 1990 | since 2000 | since 2010

Data Source(s)

All of the data on this page is sourced from the Social Security Administration (SSA) and excludes any names with fewer than 5 occurrences in any geographic area.