Most Popular Baby Names of 1982

In 1982, Jennifer was the most popular name for girls, given to 57,120 babies, and Michael topped the boys' list with 68,216. Jennifer held on to number one for a 13th year in a row, and Michael held on to number one for a 22nd year in a row.

Social Security counted 1,693,325 girls and 1,814,447 boys born in 1982 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 12,332 different girls' names and 7,367 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1982

Top girls' names, 1982
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1981
1	Jennifer	57,120	same
2	Jessica	45,453	same
3	Amanda	34,214	same
4	Sarah	28,483	same
5	Melissa	25,864	same
6	Nicole	21,706	up 1
7	Stephanie	20,861	up 1
8	Elizabeth	20,506	up 1
9	Crystal	19,099	up 7
10	Amy	18,799	down 4
11	Michelle	17,765	same
12	Heather	17,493	down 2
13	Tiffany	17,175	up 1
14	Kimberly	16,101	down 1
15	Rebecca	15,730	down 3
16	Angela	15,002	down 1
17	Ashley	14,851	up 17
18	Amber	14,678	up 2
19	Christina	14,518	down 2
20	Erin	14,362	down 1
21	Rachel	13,871	up 1
22	Laura	13,310	down 1
23	Lisa	12,637	down 5
24	Emily	12,519	up 5
25	Kelly	12,170	down 2
26	Lauren	11,589	up 9
27	Andrea	11,374	down 3
28	Sara	11,344	down 2
29	Jamie	11,039	down 1
30	Mary	10,851	down 3
31	Danielle	10,204	down 1
32	April	10,060	down 7
33	Kristen	9,534	up 5
34	Megan	9,518	down 1
35	Erica	9,340	up 1
36	Katherine	9,179	up 3
37	Kristin	8,734	down 6
38	Shannon	8,623	down 6
39	Lindsay	8,260	up 8
40	Lindsey	7,961	up 18
41	Julie	7,696	down 4
42	Maria	7,348	down 2
43	Courtney	7,100	same
44	Samantha	6,768	up 7
45	Katie	6,681	down 1
46	Christine	6,555	down 4
47	Tara	6,524	down 2
48	Kathryn	6,284	same
49	Vanessa	6,154	up 13
50	Brandy	6,077	down 9
51	Natalie	5,961	up 9
52	Monica	5,734	down 3
53	Alicia	5,614	down 7
54	Jacqueline	5,493	up 13
55	Brandi	5,469	down 5
56	Anna	5,271	down 2
57	Carrie	5,186	down 2
58	Allison	5,170	down 1
59	Patricia	5,168	down 6
60	Leslie	4,985	down 4
61	Holly	4,682	up 2
62	Cassandra	4,663	up 42
63	Diana	4,430	up 12
64	Cynthia	4,427	down 5
65	Melanie	4,255	up 1
66	Victoria	4,255	up 21
67	Dana	4,242	up 3
68	Karen	4,153	down 4
69	Veronica	4,150	down 1
70	Kristina	4,149	up 2
71	Natasha	4,128	up 14
72	Stacy	4,099	down 7
73	Catherine	4,098	same
74	Misty	4,071	down 13
75	Valerie	3,989	up 14
76	Susan	3,970	down 5
77	Kathleen	3,949	up 5
78	Candice	3,791	up 8
79	Leah	3,762	up 2
80	Sandra	3,655	down 6
81	Erika	3,596	up 12
82	Pamela	3,546	down 6
83	Krystal	3,504	up 48
84	Julia	3,502	up 4
85	Stacey	3,459	down 2
86	Heidi	3,392	down 2
87	Katrina	3,322	up 8
88	Tracy	3,283	down 11
89	Jill	3,270	down 11
90	Tina	3,219	down 10
91	Latoya	3,201	down 22
92	Brooke	3,144	down 40
93	Alexis	3,123	up 79
94	Brittany	3,102	up 71
95	Dawn	3,088	down 16
96	Jillian	3,056	up 41
97	Margaret	2,998	up 10
98	Lori	2,978	down 7
99	Nichole	2,923	up 10
100	Denise	2,896	down 4

Top boys' names, 1982
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1981
1	Michael	68,216	same
2	Christopher	59,223	same
3	Matthew	46,045	same
4	Jason	40,628	same
5	David	40,453	same
6	James	38,874	up 1
7	Joshua	38,004	down 1
8	John	34,698	same
9	Robert	34,409	same
10	Daniel	32,652	same
11	Joseph	31,035	same
12	Justin	29,115	same
13	Ryan	26,685	same
14	Brian	25,829	same
15	William	25,604	same
16	Jonathan	23,113	same
17	Andrew	22,833	up 1
18	Brandon	20,212	up 1
19	Adam	20,099	up 1
20	Eric	19,878	down 3
21	Anthony	19,648	up 2
22	Nicholas	19,643	down 1
23	Thomas	17,578	up 3
24	Timothy	17,464	same
25	Kevin	17,462	same
26	Steven	17,145	up 2
27	Richard	16,717	same
28	Jeremy	16,466	down 6
29	Jeffrey	16,030	same
30	Aaron	14,406	same
31	Charles	14,310	same
32	Mark	13,865	up 1
33	Benjamin	13,805	down 1
34	Scott	12,200	same
35	Paul	11,310	same
36	Nathan	10,805	same
37	Patrick	10,695	up 1
38	Stephen	10,627	up 1
39	Travis	10,415	up 1
40	Gregory	10,144	up 6
41	Jacob	10,059	up 2
42	Dustin	9,551	same
43	Jesse	9,504	down 6
44	Sean	9,359	same
45	Kenneth	9,354	down 4
46	Jose	8,624	down 1
47	Kyle	8,207	up 5
48	Chad	7,909	down 1
49	Bryan	7,498	down 1
50	Derek	6,992	up 3
51	Bradley	6,975	down 1
52	Shawn	6,842	down 3
53	Edward	6,281	down 2
54	Jared	6,263	up 3
55	Zachary	6,139	up 8
56	Samuel	6,014	down 2
57	Peter	5,777	down 2
58	Donald	5,712	down 2
59	Keith	5,620	down 1
60	Ronald	5,207	down 1
61	Juan	5,121	down 1
62	George	4,990	down 1
63	Marcus	4,988	up 4
64	Gary	4,642	down 2
65	Alexander	4,593	up 5
66	Tyler	4,577	up 30
67	Phillip	4,520	down 1
68	Douglas	4,511	down 4
69	Joel	4,446	down 4
70	Raymond	4,294	down 2
71	Carlos	4,268	same
72	Brett	4,026	up 7
73	Craig	4,018	down 1
74	Corey	3,939	down 5
75	Nathaniel	3,939	up 5
76	Antonio	3,884	down 1
77	Larry	3,720	down 4
78	Derrick	3,655	same
79	Philip	3,642	up 5
80	Erik	3,632	down 4
81	Frank	3,604	up 1
82	Todd	3,598	down 8
83	Ian	3,574	up 18
84	Shane	3,539	down 3
85	Jordan	3,534	up 17
86	Casey	3,427	down 1
87	Dennis	3,392	down 4
88	Gabriel	3,363	down 1
89	Jeremiah	3,329	down 12
90	Luis	3,324	up 2
91	Brent	3,321	down 3
92	Jeffery	3,311	up 1
93	Cory	3,237	down 3
94	Randy	3,229	down 3
95	Cody	3,180	up 24
96	Shaun	3,154	down 10
97	Russell	3,032	up 1
98	Wesley	3,031	up 1
99	Victor	3,002	up 5
100	Jerry	2,942	down 3

Biggest climbers in 1982

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1981.

Girls

Kayla: up 450 places, from 583rd to 133rd
Rosanna: up 382 places, from 821st to 439th
Brynn: up 381 places, from 992nd to 611th
Fallon: up 339 places, from 715th to 376th
Ariel: up 328 places, from 722nd to 394th
Toccara: up 315 places, from 857th to 542nd
Kassandra: up 263 places, from 829th to 566th
Lynsey: up 257 places, from 950th to 693rd
Taryn: up 252 places, from 719th to 467th
Tanika: up 252 places, from 834th to 582nd

Boys

Chase: up 366 places, from 611th to 245th
Taurean: up 353 places, from 946th to 593rd
Dominique: up 229 places, from 770th to 541st
Quintin: up 223 places, from 821st to 598th
Cole: up 218 places, from 484th to 266th
Kellen: up 205 places, from 617th to 412th
Colby: up 179 places, from 539th to 360th
Jameson: up 164 places, from 942nd to 778th
Carter: up 162 places, from 972nd to 810th
Wilfred: up 149 places, from 993rd to 844th

New to the top 1,000 in 1982

Girls

Chelsey, 569th (its first time ever)
Kaleena, 661st (its first time ever)
Kala, 763rd (its first time ever)
Cody, 776th (back after dropping out)
Kassie, 799th (its first time ever)
Jenilee, 818th (its first time ever)
Emilee, 829th (its first time ever)
Cassondra, 841st (its first time ever)
Shaina, 845th (its first time ever)
Clare, 846th (back after dropping out)

Boys

Colt, 460th (its first time ever)
Kiel, 623rd (its first time ever)
Colton, 802nd (its first time ever)
Renaldo, 826th (back after dropping out)
Eliezer, 828th (its first time ever)
Schuyler, 847th (back after dropping out)
Sedrick, 848th (back after dropping out)
Jace, 850th (back after dropping out)
Rashawn, 874th (back after dropping out)
Rasheed, 882nd (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1982?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 17.3% of the girls counted in 1982, and the top ten boys' names to 23.9% of the boys. In 1962, those shares were 15.9% for girls and 28.8% 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.