Most Popular Baby Names of 1981

In 1981, Jennifer was the most popular name for girls, given to 57,046 babies, and Michael topped the boys' list with 68,750. Jennifer held on to number one for a 12th year in a row, and Michael held on to number one for a 21st year in a row.

Social Security counted 1,668,060 girls and 1,791,177 boys born in 1981 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 12,198 different girls' names and 7,289 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1981

Top girls' names, 1981
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1980
1	Jennifer	57,046	same
2	Jessica	42,531	up 1
3	Amanda	34,372	down 1
4	Sarah	28,175	up 1
5	Melissa	28,005	down 1
6	Amy	20,345	up 2
7	Nicole	20,310	same
8	Stephanie	20,212	up 5
9	Elizabeth	20,168	same
10	Heather	17,946	down 4
11	Michelle	17,781	down 1
12	Rebecca	16,737	up 5
13	Kimberly	16,689	down 2
14	Tiffany	16,416	same
15	Angela	15,924	down 3
16	Crystal	15,888	up 2
17	Christina	14,392	down 2
18	Lisa	14,294	down 2
19	Erin	13,853	up 1
20	Amber	13,814	up 2
21	Laura	13,292	same
22	Rachel	12,590	up 1
23	Kelly	11,873	down 4
24	Andrea	11,686	up 4
25	April	11,406	up 1
26	Sara	11,359	up 1
27	Mary	11,042	down 2
28	Jamie	10,982	down 4
29	Emily	10,799	up 2
30	Danielle	10,038	up 3
31	Kristin	9,737	up 6
32	Shannon	9,226	down 3
33	Megan	8,964	down 3
34	Ashley	8,874	up 6
35	Lauren	8,813	up 3
36	Erica	8,626	down 2
37	Julie	8,567	down 5
38	Kristen	8,540	up 1
39	Katherine	8,433	down 4
40	Maria	7,681	down 4
41	Brandy	6,898	up 1
42	Christine	6,854	down 1
43	Courtney	6,636	up 5
44	Katie	6,600	same
45	Tara	6,366	down 2
46	Alicia	5,855	up 1
47	Lindsay	5,843	up 24
48	Kathryn	5,823	up 2
49	Monica	5,782	down 4
50	Brandi	5,527	up 13
51	Samantha	5,516	up 7
52	Brooke	5,328	up 5
53	Patricia	5,284	down 2
54	Anna	5,192	up 1
55	Carrie	5,094	down 9
56	Leslie	4,934	up 5
57	Allison	4,904	up 2
58	Lindsey	4,863	up 33
59	Cynthia	4,859	up 5
60	Natalie	4,858	up 5
61	Misty	4,799	down 12
62	Vanessa	4,749	up 7
63	Holly	4,564	down 11
64	Karen	4,539	down 10
65	Stacy	4,479	down 12
66	Melanie	4,475	down 6
67	Jacqueline	4,334	up 14
68	Veronica	4,313	up 2
69	Latoya	4,266	up 54
70	Dana	4,246	down 2
71	Susan	4,244	down 9
72	Kristina	4,061	up 1
73	Catherine	4,057	up 4
74	Sandra	4,037	up 6
75	Diana	3,971	up 43
76	Pamela	3,881	up 10
77	Tracy	3,869	down 21
78	Jill	3,857	down 12
79	Dawn	3,839	down 12
80	Tina	3,821	down 8
81	Leah	3,808	up 3
82	Kathleen	3,776	same
83	Stacey	3,754	down 9
84	Heidi	3,738	down 5
85	Natasha	3,730	up 4
86	Candice	3,698	up 13
87	Victoria	3,689	up 16
88	Julia	3,668	up 10
89	Valerie	3,611	down 4
90	Wendy	3,608	down 15
91	Lori	3,479	down 15
92	Tanya	3,408	down 4
93	Erika	3,399	down 6
94	Kristy	3,263	down 16
95	Katrina	3,257	down 5
96	Denise	3,201	down 1
97	Teresa	3,121	down 3
98	Renee	2,997	up 9
99	Christy	2,943	down 16
100	Theresa	2,943	up 4

Top boys' names, 1981
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1980
1	Michael	68,750	same
2	Christopher	50,221	same
3	Matthew	43,330	up 3
4	Jason	41,927	down 1
5	David	40,629	down 1
6	Joshua	39,024	up 1
7	James	38,283	down 2
8	John	34,868	same
9	Robert	34,395	same
10	Daniel	30,985	up 1
11	Joseph	30,761	down 1
12	Justin	27,307	up 1
13	Ryan	26,811	up 2
14	Brian	26,583	down 2
15	William	24,798	down 1
16	Jonathan	22,588	up 5
17	Eric	20,712	down 1
18	Andrew	20,232	up 1
19	Brandon	20,206	up 12
20	Adam	20,044	up 2
21	Nicholas	19,775	down 4
22	Jeremy	19,113	down 4
23	Anthony	18,569	up 1
24	Timothy	18,228	down 4
25	Kevin	17,454	down 2
26	Thomas	17,159	down 1
27	Richard	16,855	down 1
28	Steven	16,482	same
29	Jeffrey	15,931	down 2
30	Aaron	14,694	up 4
31	Charles	14,427	down 2
32	Benjamin	14,360	same
33	Mark	13,542	down 3
34	Scott	12,719	down 1
35	Paul	11,776	same
36	Nathan	11,256	same
37	Jesse	10,443	up 8
38	Patrick	10,384	same
39	Stephen	10,302	up 1
40	Travis	10,109	down 3
41	Kenneth	9,472	same
42	Dustin	9,350	up 2
43	Jacob	9,342	same
44	Sean	8,893	up 4
45	Jose	8,773	up 1
46	Gregory	8,756	down 4
47	Chad	8,412	down 8
48	Bryan	7,215	up 1
49	Shawn	7,076	down 2
50	Bradley	6,895	up 1
51	Edward	6,661	up 1
52	Kyle	6,570	up 5
53	Derek	6,481	down 3
54	Samuel	6,036	same
55	Peter	5,997	same
56	Donald	5,910	down 3
57	Jared	5,865	up 4
58	Keith	5,621	down 2
59	Ronald	5,538	down 1
60	Juan	5,499	down 1
61	George	5,157	down 1
62	Gary	4,946	up 1
63	Zachary	4,841	up 9
64	Douglas	4,788	down 2
65	Joel	4,540	up 2
66	Phillip	4,539	down 1
67	Marcus	4,510	up 4
68	Raymond	4,367	down 2
69	Corey	4,247	down 1
70	Alexander	4,237	up 21
71	Carlos	4,185	up 7
72	Craig	4,097	up 1
73	Larry	3,955	down 3
74	Todd	3,953	up 1
75	Antonio	3,926	up 2
76	Erik	3,921	down 12
77	Jeremiah	3,896	down 1
78	Derrick	3,850	down 4
79	Brett	3,775	up 17
80	Nathaniel	3,719	up 6
81	Shane	3,710	down 12
82	Frank	3,638	down 1
83	Dennis	3,634	down 3
84	Philip	3,581	down 2
85	Casey	3,518	up 8
86	Shaun	3,383	down 7
87	Gabriel	3,373	down 2
88	Brent	3,371	down 4
89	Lucas	3,371	up 9
90	Cory	3,352	down 7
91	Randy	3,343	down 4
92	Luis	3,342	down 4
93	Jeffery	3,334	down 3
94	Curtis	3,198	down 5
95	Seth	3,137	up 4
96	Tyler	3,117	up 18
97	Jerry	3,056	down 3
98	Russell	3,048	down 6
99	Wesley	3,040	down 4
100	Luke	3,013	down 3

Biggest climbers in 1981

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1980.

Girls

Blair: up 369 places, from 893rd to 524th
Jessi: up 337 places, from 985th to 648th
Alexandria: up 293 places, from 697th to 404th
Kira: up 279 places, from 787th to 508th
Hayley: up 248 places, from 728th to 480th
Simone: up 241 places, from 738th to 497th
Ashleigh: up 224 places, from 621st to 397th
Constance: up 205 places, from 538th to 333rd
Taylor: up 204 places, from 715th to 511th
Margo: up 204 places, from 918th to 714th

Boys

Tristan: up 188 places, from 604th to 416th
Tyrell: up 174 places, from 776th to 602nd
Mohammed: up 145 places, from 1000th to 855th
Fidel: up 142 places, from 844th to 702nd
Sarah: up 142 places, from 986th to 844th
Lindsey: up 136 places, from 961st to 825th
Barrett: up 130 places, from 636th to 506th
Mitchel: up 123 places, from 890th to 767th
Isidro: up 123 places, from 931st to 808th
Brandan: up 117 places, from 959th to 842nd

New to the top 1,000 in 1981

Girls

Sheena, 356th (back after dropping out)
Krystle, 474th (its first time ever)
Tierra, 542nd (its first time ever)
Tiara, 677th (its first time ever)
Fallon, 715th (its first time ever)
Brandon, 752nd (its first time ever)
Tatiana, 755th (its first time ever)
Kaitlin, 776th (its first time ever)
Evita, 779th (its first time ever)
Martine, 793rd (its first time ever)

Boys

Kellen, 617th (its first time ever)
Tyrel, 633rd (back after dropping out)
Skyler, 644th (its first time ever)
Anwar, 730th (back after dropping out)
Jordon, 786th (back after dropping out)
Marcello, 795th (back after dropping out)
Marchello, 843rd (its first time ever)
Chaim, 871st (back after dropping out)
Isiah, 903rd (back after dropping out)
Stephanie, 912th (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1981?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 17.3% of the girls counted in 1981, and the top ten boys' names to 23.6% of the boys. In 1961, those shares were 16.3% for girls and 29.1% 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.