Most Popular Baby Names of 1981

Social Security has card records for 3,651,135 people born in the U.S. in 1981. Jennifer was the top girl name (57,046 babies) and Michael the top boy name (68,750).

Top 100 names of 1981

Jump to the boys’ top 100

Girls 1–50

Top 100 girl names in the U.S., 1981, ranks 1–50
#	Name	Babies	2025 rank
1	Jennifer	57,046	#586
2	Jessica	42,531	#665
3	Amanda	34,372	#493
4	Sarah	28,175	#90
5	Melissa	28,005	#419
6	Amy	20,345	#257
7	Nicole	20,310	#382
8	Stephanie	20,212	#557
9	Elizabeth	20,168	#17
10	Heather	17,946	#1,261
11	Michelle	17,781	#465
12	Rebecca	16,737	#349
13	Kimberly	16,689	#302
14	Tiffany	16,416	#878
15	Angela	15,924	#408
16	Crystal	15,888	#1,144
17	Christina	14,392	#770
18	Lisa	14,294	#987
19	Erin	13,853	#833
20	Amber	13,814	#520
21	Laura	13,292	#379
22	Rachel	12,590	#250
23	Kelly	11,873	#851
24	Andrea	11,686	#235
25	April	11,406	#542
26	Sara	11,359	#198
27	Mary	11,042	#125
28	Jamie	10,982	#857
29	Emily	10,799	#34
30	Danielle	10,038	#549
31	Kristin	9,737	#4,661
32	Shannon	9,226	#2,387
33	Megan	8,964	#887
34	Ashley	8,874	#164
35	Lauren	8,813	#401
36	Erica	8,626	#1,396
37	Julie	8,567	#872
38	Kristen	8,540	#1,990
39	Katherine	8,433	#186
40	Maria	7,681	#87
41	Brandy	6,898	#3,067
42	Christine	6,854	#1,272
43	Courtney	6,636	#2,326
44	Katie	6,600	#646
45	Tara	6,366	#844
46	Alicia	5,855	#460
47	Lindsay	5,843	#2,194
48	Kathryn	5,823	#729
49	Monica	5,782	#736
50	Brandi	5,527	#4,758

Girls 51–100

Top 100 girl names in the U.S., 1981, ranks 51–100
#	Name	Babies	2025 rank
51	Samantha	5,516	#151
52	Brooke	5,328	#313
53	Patricia	5,284	#1,334
54	Anna	5,192	#107
55	Carrie	5,094	#2,719
56	Leslie	4,934	#712
57	Allison	4,904	#103
58	Lindsey	4,863	#1,367
59	Cynthia	4,859	#1,013
60	Natalie	4,858	#89
61	Misty	4,799	#4,067
62	Vanessa	4,749	#377
63	Holly	4,564	#416
64	Karen	4,539	#1,279
65	Stacy	4,479	#1,652
66	Melanie	4,475	#142
67	Jacqueline	4,334	#558
68	Veronica	4,313	#427
69	Latoya	4,266	#10,917
70	Dana	4,246	#1,027
71	Susan	4,244	#1,085
72	Kristina	4,061	#1,721
73	Catherine	4,057	#313
74	Sandra	4,037	#1,207
75	Diana	3,971	#244
76	Pamela	3,881	#2,239
77	Tracy	3,869	#2,153
78	Jill	3,857	#5,722
79	Dawn	3,839	#2,173
80	Tina	3,821	#2,778
81	Leah	3,808	#58
82	Kathleen	3,776	#1,150
83	Stacey	3,754	#3,067
84	Heidi	3,738	#340
85	Natasha	3,730	#1,144
86	Candice	3,698	#5,099
87	Victoria	3,689	#54
88	Julia	3,668	#131
89	Valerie	3,611	#127
90	Wendy	3,608	#1,341
91	Lori	3,479	#1,721
92	Tanya	3,408	#3,712
93	Erika	3,399	#1,109
94	Kristy	3,263	#5,099
95	Katrina	3,257	#2,214
96	Denise	3,201	#1,673
97	Teresa	3,121	#908
98	Renee	2,997	#1,098
99	Christy	2,943	#4,172
99	Theresa	2,943	#1,548

Boys 1–50

Top 100 boy names in the U.S., 1981, ranks 1–50
#	Name	Babies	2025 rank
1	Michael	68,750	#21
2	Christopher	50,221	#68
3	Matthew	43,330	#32
4	Jason	41,927	#165
5	David	40,629	#35
6	Joshua	39,024	#66
7	James	38,283	#6
8	John	34,868	#23
9	Robert	34,395	#92
10	Daniel	30,985	#22
11	Joseph	30,761	#29
12	Justin	27,307	#233
13	Ryan	26,811	#99
14	Brian	26,583	#339
15	William	24,798	#9
16	Jonathan	22,588	#89
17	Eric	20,712	#273
18	Andrew	20,232	#73
19	Brandon	20,206	#261
20	Adam	20,044	#101
21	Nicholas	19,775	#112
22	Jeremy	19,113	#292
23	Anthony	18,569	#46
24	Timothy	18,228	#203
25	Kevin	17,454	#221
26	Thomas	17,159	#34
27	Richard	16,855	#234
28	Steven	16,482	#271
29	Jeffrey	15,931	#552
30	Aaron	14,694	#80
31	Charles	14,427	#48
32	Benjamin	14,360	#11
33	Mark	13,542	#244
34	Scott	12,719	#534
35	Paul	11,776	#262
36	Nathan	11,256	#63
37	Jesse	10,443	#184
38	Patrick	10,384	#235
39	Stephen	10,302	#383
40	Travis	10,109	#434
41	Kenneth	9,472	#294
42	Dustin	9,350	#728
43	Jacob	9,342	#43
44	Sean	8,893	#489
45	Jose	8,773	#95
46	Gregory	8,756	#593
47	Chad	8,412	#1,699
48	Bryan	7,215	#336
49	Shawn	7,076	#681
50	Bradley	6,895	#403

Boys 51–100

Top 100 boy names in the U.S., 1981, ranks 51–100
#	Name	Babies	2025 rank
51	Edward	6,661	#224
52	Kyle	6,570	#508
53	Derek	6,481	#284
54	Samuel	6,036	#18
55	Peter	5,997	#187
56	Donald	5,910	#690
57	Jared	5,865	#396
58	Keith	5,621	#800
59	Ronald	5,538	#637
60	Juan	5,499	#159
61	George	5,157	#126
62	Gary	4,946	#1,073
63	Zachary	4,841	#216
64	Douglas	4,788	#807
65	Joel	4,540	#219
66	Phillip	4,539	#651
67	Marcus	4,510	#258
68	Raymond	4,367	#394
69	Corey	4,247	#778
70	Alexander	4,237	#30
71	Carlos	4,185	#150
72	Craig	4,097	#1,644
73	Larry	3,955	#1,084
74	Todd	3,953	#1,609
75	Antonio	3,926	#176
76	Erik	3,921	#545
77	Jeremiah	3,896	#88
78	Derrick	3,850	#850
79	Brett	3,775	#1,382
80	Nathaniel	3,719	#140
81	Shane	3,710	#635
82	Frank	3,638	#513
83	Dennis	3,634	#707
84	Philip	3,581	#527
85	Casey	3,518	#320
86	Shaun	3,383	#1,942
87	Gabriel	3,373	#37
88	Brent	3,371	#1,509
88	Lucas	3,371	#10
90	Cory	3,352	#1,244
91	Randy	3,343	#1,084
92	Luis	3,342	#144
93	Jeffery	3,334	#1,554
94	Curtis	3,198	#984
95	Seth	3,137	#581
96	Tyler	3,117	#219
97	Jerry	3,056	#906
98	Russell	3,048	#345
99	Wesley	3,040	#52
100	Luke	3,013	#33

Entered the top 100 in 1981

Girls

Boys

Tyler