Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1981

In this article we'll look at what the most popular baby girl names are since 1981. 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 50 most popular baby girl names since 1981, with a total count for the number of births registered with that given name since 1981.

Rank Name Count
1 Jessica 848,959
2 Ashley 820,394
3 Emily 714,594
4 Sarah 648,043
5 Jennifer 610,592
6 Elizabeth 593,838
7 Amanda 583,982
8 Samantha 536,887
9 Emma 475,140
10 Olivia 464,415
11 Hannah 419,830
12 Lauren 419,519
13 Stephanie 417,297
14 Nicole 405,614
15 Madison 399,275
16 Megan 383,966
17 Rachel 376,065
18 Abigail 376,005
19 Isabella 362,346
20 Sophia 360,272
21 Brittany 354,321
22 Kayla 337,972
23 Victoria 333,576
24 Alexis 329,317
25 Melissa 324,855
26 Taylor 324,810
27 Amber 304,369
28 Alyssa 302,112
29 Rebecca 294,011
30 Ava 291,476
31 Katherine 291,252
32 Natalie 284,569
33 Kimberly 284,428
34 Michelle 283,981
35 Danielle 283,603
36 Anna 278,773
37 Heather 260,756
38 Brianna 255,601
39 Mia 254,257
40 Tiffany 247,550
41 Allison 247,063
42 Jasmine 246,041
43 Grace 245,545
44 Christina 242,213
45 Mary 236,102
46 Sara 233,469
47 Amy 233,378
48 Andrea 232,863
49 Laura 225,996
50 Alexandra 224,565

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.

Link To or Reference This Page

We spent a lot of time downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!

  • "Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1981". NameCensus.com. Accessed on March 30, 2023. https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-girl-names-since-1981/.

  • "Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1981". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-girl-names-since-1981/. Accessed 30 March, 2023

  • Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1981. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-girl-names-since-1981/.