By year

The top names of 1981

Jennifer led the girls and Michael the boys, out of 3,459,237 babies in the public record for that year.

Girls, 1981

#NameBabiesShare
1Jennifer57,0463.42%
2Jessica42,5312.55%
3Amanda34,3722.06%
4Sarah28,1751.69%
5Melissa28,0051.68%
6Amy20,3451.22%
7Nicole20,3101.22%
8Stephanie20,2121.21%
9Elizabeth20,1681.21%
10Heather17,9461.08%
11Michelle17,7811.07%
12Rebecca16,7371.00%
13Kimberly16,6891.00%
14Tiffany16,4160.98%
15Angela15,9240.95%
16Crystal15,8880.95%
17Christina14,3920.86%
18Lisa14,2940.86%
19Erin13,8530.83%
20Amber13,8140.83%
21Laura13,2920.80%
22Rachel12,5900.75%
23Kelly11,8730.71%
24Andrea11,6860.70%
25April11,4060.68%
26Sara11,3590.68%
27Mary11,0420.66%
28Jamie10,9820.66%
29Emily10,7990.65%
30Danielle10,0380.60%
31Kristin9,7370.58%
32Shannon9,2260.55%
33Megan8,9640.54%
34Ashley8,8740.53%
35Lauren8,8130.53%
36Erica8,6260.52%
37Julie8,5670.51%
38Kristen8,5400.51%
39Katherine8,4330.51%
40Maria7,6810.46%
41Brandy6,8980.41%
42Christine6,8540.41%
43Courtney6,6360.40%
44Katie6,6000.40%
45Tara6,3660.38%
46Alicia5,8550.35%
47Lindsay5,8430.35%
48Kathryn5,8230.35%
49Monica5,7820.35%
50Brandi5,5270.33%

Boys, 1981

#NameBabiesShare
1Michael68,7503.84%
2Christopher50,2212.80%
3Matthew43,3302.42%
4Jason41,9272.34%
5David40,6292.27%
6Joshua39,0242.18%
7James38,2832.14%
8John34,8681.95%
9Robert34,3951.92%
10Daniel30,9851.73%
11Joseph30,7611.72%
12Justin27,3071.52%
13Ryan26,8111.50%
14Brian26,5831.48%
15William24,7981.38%
16Jonathan22,5881.26%
17Eric20,7121.16%
18Andrew20,2321.13%
19Brandon20,2061.13%
20Adam20,0441.12%
21Nicholas19,7751.10%
22Jeremy19,1131.07%
23Anthony18,5691.04%
24Timothy18,2281.02%
25Kevin17,4540.97%
26Thomas17,1590.96%
27Richard16,8550.94%
28Steven16,4820.92%
29Jeffrey15,9310.89%
30Aaron14,6940.82%
31Charles14,4270.81%
32Benjamin14,3600.80%
33Mark13,5420.76%
34Scott12,7190.71%
35Paul11,7760.66%
36Nathan11,2560.63%
37Jesse10,4430.58%
38Patrick10,3840.58%
39Stephen10,3020.58%
40Travis10,1090.56%
41Kenneth9,4720.53%
42Dustin9,3500.52%
43Jacob9,3420.52%
44Sean8,8930.50%
45Jose8,7730.49%
46Gregory8,7560.49%
47Chad8,4120.47%
48Bryan7,2150.40%
49Shawn7,0760.40%
50Bradley6,8950.38%

United States national data, Social Security Administration. The file counts Social Security applications, so its early decades undercount; the share column is a name's part of the names recorded for that sex that year, not of all births. How we use it.

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