Most Popular Baby Names of 1979

In 1979, Jennifer was the most popular name for girls, given to 56,712 babies, and Michael topped the boys' list with 67,713. Jennifer held on to number one for a tenth year in a row, and Michael held on to number one for a 19th year in a row.

Social Security counted 1,605,268 girls and 1,721,536 boys born in 1979 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 11,972 different girls' names and 7,071 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1979

Top girls' names, 1979
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1978
1	Jennifer	56,712	same
2	Melissa	34,050	same
3	Amanda	31,924	up 3
4	Jessica	27,780	down 1
5	Amy	21,609	down 1
6	Sarah	21,015	up 2
7	Heather	20,834	down 2
8	Angela	20,256	down 1
9	Nicole	19,510	up 1
10	Michelle	19,266	down 1
11	Elizabeth	18,073	up 3
12	Kimberly	17,635	up 1
13	Lisa	17,286	down 2
14	Christina	16,454	up 1
15	Stephanie	16,204	up 1
16	Kelly	15,296	down 4
17	Rebecca	14,548	same
18	Crystal	13,467	same
19	Jamie	12,156	up 1
20	Laura	11,880	down 1
21	Erin	11,259	same
22	Amber	11,079	up 8
23	April	10,902	up 4
24	Mary	10,555	same
25	Shannon	10,370	down 3
26	Andrea	10,336	down 3
27	Rachel	10,230	down 2
28	Tiffany	9,611	up 4
29	Julie	9,254	down 3
30	Sara	8,654	down 2
31	Megan	8,293	up 10
32	Erica	8,178	up 2
33	Danielle	7,981	down 2
34	Emily	7,971	down 1
35	Christine	7,689	down 6
36	Katherine	7,464	up 2
37	Maria	7,339	down 1
38	Tara	6,806	up 2
39	Brandy	6,775	down 2
40	Monica	6,585	up 2
41	Carrie	6,354	down 6
42	Misty	5,785	up 1
43	Stacy	5,708	up 1
44	Patricia	5,650	up 4
45	Lauren	5,625	up 35
46	Karen	5,599	down 7
47	Alicia	5,547	up 11
48	Holly	5,488	up 7
49	Tracy	5,389	down 2
50	Kathryn	5,312	up 7
51	Susan	5,196	down 2
52	Jill	5,192	down 6
53	Melanie	5,021	up 1
54	Dana	4,948	up 17
55	Cynthia	4,931	down 5
56	Kristy	4,880	down 5
57	Dawn	4,725	down 5
58	Tina	4,677	down 13
59	Anna	4,670	up 6
60	Stacey	4,613	down 7
61	Brandi	4,609	same
62	Kristen	4,568	same
63	Katie	4,512	up 27
64	Wendy	4,500	down 8
65	Leslie	4,497	down 2
66	Samantha	4,461	up 8
67	Ashley	4,448	up 20
68	Natalie	4,445	down 2
69	Lori	4,432	down 9
70	Allison	4,406	up 5
71	Courtney	4,321	down 3
72	Christy	4,286	down 13
73	Kristin	4,264	up 5
74	Kristina	4,130	down 10
75	Vanessa	4,102	up 1
76	Veronica	4,062	down 3
77	Sandra	3,995	down 8
78	Catherine	3,878	down 6
79	Tammy	3,758	down 12
80	Jacqueline	3,740	up 1
81	Mindy	3,712	up 89
82	Melinda	3,705	up 2
83	Heidi	3,670	same
84	Kathleen	3,641	down 5
85	Brooke	3,505	up 30
86	Tonya	3,495	down 9
87	Teresa	3,481	up 1
88	Lindsay	3,466	up 7
89	Valerie	3,407	up 3
90	Pamela	3,365	up 19
91	Erika	3,316	up 13
92	Denise	3,267	down 7
93	Tanya	3,225	down 11
94	Cheryl	3,210	same
95	Robin	3,209	down 6
96	Gina	3,116	down 3
97	Jaime	3,086	down 27
98	Leah	3,075	up 10
99	Katrina	2,998	up 23
100	Theresa	2,995	up 1

Top boys' names, 1979
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1978
1	Michael	67,713	same
2	Christopher	50,659	up 1
3	Jason	50,369	down 1
4	David	42,053	same
5	James	39,351	same
6	Matthew	35,621	same
7	John	35,410	same
8	Robert	34,015	same
9	Joshua	31,120	up 3
10	Brian	28,659	down 1
11	Joseph	28,654	down 1
12	Daniel	28,521	down 1
13	William	24,676	same
14	Ryan	23,212	same
15	Nicholas	21,344	up 10
16	Jeremy	21,005	up 2
17	Eric	20,268	down 1
18	Timothy	19,077	down 1
19	Kevin	18,733	down 4
20	Andrew	18,618	up 2
21	Anthony	17,513	down 1
22	Justin	17,390	up 6
23	Adam	17,046	up 6
24	Jeffrey	16,865	down 5
25	Richard	16,713	down 4
26	Thomas	16,454	down 3
27	Steven	16,331	down 3
28	Charles	14,806	down 1
29	Scott	14,440	up 1
30	Mark	14,386	down 4
31	Jonathan	14,331	same
32	Aaron	13,076	same
33	Benjamin	12,512	up 1
34	Paul	11,630	down 1
35	Brandon	11,302	up 5
36	Travis	11,037	up 10
37	Nathan	10,719	down 1
38	Chad	10,161	down 3
39	Patrick	9,979	up 3
40	Stephen	9,903	down 3
41	Kenneth	9,236	same
42	Gregory	9,109	down 4
43	Shawn	7,910	down 4
44	Jose	7,848	same
45	Jacob	7,545	up 5
46	Bryan	7,441	down 3
47	Bradley	6,923	up 6
48	Edward	6,877	down 1
49	Sean	6,850	down 4
50	Jesse	6,679	up 1
51	Donald	6,508	down 3
52	Keith	6,186	down 3
53	Peter	6,079	up 1
54	Ronald	5,694	up 1
55	Samuel	5,687	up 2
56	Kyle	5,449	up 7
57	George	5,263	up 1
58	Douglas	5,167	up 1
59	Gary	5,038	up 1
60	Todd	4,984	down 4
61	Juan	4,946	up 1
62	Dustin	4,899	up 6
63	Corey	4,738	down 2
64	Shaun	4,736	down 12
65	Jared	4,670	up 7
66	Erik	4,640	up 19
67	Shane	4,482	down 2
68	Phillip	4,422	down 1
69	Larry	4,393	down 5
70	Raymond	4,335	down 1
71	Joel	4,216	up 3
72	Derek	4,200	up 3
73	Carlos	4,165	up 5
74	Zachary	4,156	up 15
75	Dennis	4,080	down 4
76	Marcus	4,048	down 6
77	Craig	4,029	down 11
78	Frank	3,928	down 1
79	Antonio	3,801	same
80	Derrick	3,729	down 4
81	Jeremiah	3,719	same
82	Cory	3,587	down 9
83	Philip	3,460	up 1
84	Brent	3,455	up 3
85	Jerry	3,446	down 3
86	Randy	3,416	same
87	Jeffery	3,357	down 7
88	Jamie	3,240	up 7
89	Wesley	3,237	down 6
90	Gabriel	3,235	same
91	Curtis	3,200	up 5
92	Russell	3,132	up 1
93	Casey	3,082	down 1
94	Alexander	3,058	up 4
95	Nathaniel	3,040	down 1
96	Terry	3,040	down 5
97	Billy	2,998	up 2
98	Brett	2,997	up 14
99	Troy	2,964	down 11
100	Carl	2,898	same

Biggest climbers in 1979

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1978.

Girls

Brianne: up 594 places, from 762nd to 168th
Winter: up 294 places, from 1000th to 706th
Brianna: up 245 places, from 574th to 329th
Leeann: up 242 places, from 788th to 546th
Kyla: up 229 places, from 782nd to 553rd
Joshua: up 219 places, from 982nd to 763rd
Candi: up 218 places, from 910th to 692nd
Tana: up 216 places, from 990th to 774th
Alesha: up 214 places, from 936th to 722nd
Charissa: up 200 places, from 995th to 795th

Boys

Jonah: up 244 places, from 647th to 403rd
Johnpaul: up 238 places, from 887th to 649th
Dirk: up 206 places, from 849th to 643rd
Garret: up 176 places, from 951st to 775th
Brooks: up 172 places, from 791st to 619th
Tanner: up 168 places, from 645th to 477th
Bennett: up 167 places, from 998th to 831st
Jermey: up 160 places, from 911th to 751st
Jaron: up 156 places, from 875th to 719th
Zackary: up 151 places, from 944th to 793rd

New to the top 1,000 in 1979

Girls

Viviana, 487th (its first time ever)
Breanne, 532nd (its first time ever)
Siobhan, 629th (its first time ever)
Nicolette, 686th (back after dropping out)
Renata, 727th (back after dropping out)
Maren, 733rd (its first time ever)
Darci, 745th (back after dropping out)
Kylene, 779th (its first time ever)
Alycia, 785th (back after dropping out)
Breanna, 804th (its first time ever)

Boys

Jace, 715th (back after dropping out)
Tyrell, 744th (its first time ever)
Mohammad, 832nd (its first time ever)
Bryson, 838th (its first time ever)
Lars, 848th (back after dropping out)
Bo, 866th (back after dropping out)
Ramsey, 874th (back after dropping out)
Dillon, 878th (back after dropping out)
Kaleb, 881st (back after dropping out)
Frederic, 897th (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1979?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 17% of the girls counted in 1979, and the top ten boys' names to 24.1% of the boys. In 1959, those shares were 17.9% for girls and 29.4% for boys.

Source: Social Security Administration, national baby name data, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.