Most Popular Baby Names of 1983

In 1983, Jennifer was the most popular name for girls, given to 54,353 babies, and Michael topped the boys' list with 68,004. Jennifer held on to number one for a 14th year in a row, and Michael held on to number one for a 23rd year in a row.

Social Security counted 1,670,609 girls and 1,792,564 boys born in 1983 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 12,074 different girls' names and 7,344 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1983

Top girls' names, 1983
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1982
1	Jennifer	54,353	same
2	Jessica	45,283	same
3	Amanda	33,749	same
4	Ashley	33,289	up 13
5	Sarah	27,228	down 1
6	Melissa	23,475	down 1
7	Nicole	22,400	down 1
8	Stephanie	22,329	down 1
9	Heather	20,747	up 3
10	Elizabeth	19,842	down 2
11	Crystal	17,904	down 2
12	Amy	17,097	down 2
13	Michelle	16,838	down 2
14	Tiffany	15,959	down 1
15	Kimberly	15,370	down 1
16	Christina	15,357	up 3
17	Amber	14,892	up 1
18	Erin	14,836	up 2
19	Rebecca	14,714	down 4
20	Rachel	14,591	up 1
21	Megan	14,124	up 13
22	Angela	13,219	down 6
23	Laura	13,199	down 1
24	Lauren	12,944	up 2
25	Emily	12,377	down 1
26	Kelly	11,586	down 1
27	Lisa	11,469	down 4
28	Jamie	11,025	up 1
29	Danielle	10,634	up 2
30	Andrea	10,413	down 3
31	Sara	10,087	down 3
32	Mary	9,897	down 2
33	Erica	9,713	up 2
34	Katherine	9,684	up 2
35	Lindsey	8,679	up 5
36	Lindsay	8,622	up 3
37	Kristen	8,618	down 4
38	Shannon	8,424	same
39	April	8,209	down 7
40	Samantha	7,703	up 4
41	Alicia	7,492	up 12
42	Kristin	7,267	down 5
43	Maria	6,847	down 1
44	Courtney	6,748	down 1
45	Katie	6,705	same
46	Julie	6,653	down 5
47	Christine	6,499	down 1
48	Holly	6,388	up 13
49	Vanessa	6,388	same
50	Kathryn	6,370	down 2
51	Tara	6,272	down 4
52	Natalie	5,723	down 1
53	Jacqueline	5,405	up 1
54	Monica	5,405	down 2
55	Anna	5,217	up 1
56	Brandi	5,203	down 1
57	Brandy	5,194	down 7
58	Victoria	5,046	up 8
59	Allison	4,973	down 1
60	Patricia	4,926	down 1
61	Stacy	4,678	up 11
62	Cynthia	4,553	up 2
63	Kristina	4,382	up 7
64	Brittany	4,377	up 30
65	Carrie	4,296	down 8
66	Catherine	4,252	up 7
67	Leslie	4,248	down 7
68	Veronica	4,069	up 1
69	Diana	4,039	down 6
70	Cassandra	4,006	down 8
71	Natasha	3,955	same
72	Dana	3,926	down 5
73	Kathleen	3,923	up 4
74	Valerie	3,901	up 1
75	Meghan	3,888	up 35
76	Stacey	3,799	up 9
77	Karen	3,787	down 9
78	Krystal	3,716	up 5
79	Melanie	3,553	down 14
80	Erika	3,548	up 1
81	Kayla	3,527	up 52
82	Leah	3,484	down 3
83	Alexis	3,462	up 10
84	Candice	3,420	down 6
85	Julia	3,381	down 1
86	Susan	3,358	down 10
87	Misty	3,189	down 13
88	Sandra	3,175	down 8
89	Tracy	3,158	down 1
90	Latoya	3,150	up 1
91	Pamela	3,029	down 9
92	Margaret	2,944	up 5
93	Nichole	2,926	up 6
94	Desiree	2,915	up 48
95	Heidi	2,915	down 9
96	Brooke	2,862	down 4
97	Renee	2,846	up 4
98	Jill	2,787	down 9
99	Bethany	2,765	up 13
100	Tina	2,738	down 10

Top boys' names, 1983
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1982
1	Michael	68,004	same
2	Christopher	59,324	same
3	Matthew	50,209	same
4	David	39,201	up 1
5	Joshua	36,687	up 2
6	James	36,342	same
7	Jason	35,113	down 3
8	Daniel	34,748	up 2
9	John	33,154	down 1
10	Robert	32,745	down 1
11	Joseph	30,442	same
12	Justin	28,298	same
13	Ryan	27,849	same
14	Brian	26,050	same
15	Andrew	25,559	up 2
16	William	25,396	down 1
17	Brandon	23,519	up 1
18	Adam	23,488	up 1
19	Jonathan	22,756	down 3
20	Eric	20,347	same
21	Nicholas	19,891	up 1
22	Anthony	19,830	down 1
23	Steven	18,307	up 3
24	Thomas	17,565	down 1
25	Kevin	17,377	same
26	Timothy	16,363	down 2
27	Richard	15,888	same
28	Jeffrey	15,649	up 1
29	Aaron	14,460	up 1
30	Jeremy	14,254	down 2
31	Mark	13,815	up 1
32	Benjamin	13,285	up 1
33	Charles	13,212	down 2
34	Kyle	12,372	up 13
35	Stephen	11,564	up 3
36	Jacob	10,999	up 5
37	Patrick	10,876	same
38	Scott	10,846	down 4
39	Paul	10,828	down 4
40	Nathan	10,557	down 4
41	Travis	10,478	down 2
42	Gregory	9,980	down 2
43	Dustin	9,678	down 1
44	Sean	9,615	same
45	Kenneth	8,965	same
46	Jesse	8,469	down 3
47	Bryan	8,191	up 2
48	Jose	8,073	down 2
49	Chad	7,390	down 1
50	Zachary	7,309	up 5
51	Derek	6,986	down 1
52	Bradley	6,738	down 1
53	Shawn	6,359	down 1
54	Samuel	6,195	up 2
55	Edward	6,005	down 2
56	Jared	5,853	down 2
57	Tyler	5,821	up 9
58	Marcus	5,637	up 5
59	Peter	5,482	down 2
60	Donald	5,327	down 2
61	Keith	5,313	down 2
62	Juan	4,894	down 1
63	Alexander	4,806	up 2
64	Ronald	4,702	down 4
65	George	4,495	down 3
66	Phillip	4,470	up 1
67	Joel	4,345	up 2
68	Gary	4,266	down 4
69	Douglas	4,182	down 1
70	Craig	4,084	up 3
71	Raymond	4,016	down 1
72	Jordan	4,014	up 13
73	Brett	3,975	down 1
74	Corey	3,967	same
75	Carlos	3,912	down 4
76	Antonio	3,683	same
77	Ian	3,665	up 6
78	Derrick	3,656	same
79	Nathaniel	3,641	down 4
80	Erik	3,636	same
81	Cody	3,505	up 14
82	Philip	3,488	down 3
83	Cory	3,404	up 10
84	Shane	3,404	same
85	Larry	3,381	down 8
86	Frank	3,361	down 5
87	Todd	3,334	down 5
88	Luis	3,321	up 2
89	Gabriel	3,269	down 1
90	Casey	3,228	down 4
91	Jeffery	3,154	up 1
92	Dennis	3,047	down 5
93	Evan	3,046	up 15
94	Brent	3,030	down 3
95	Victor	2,970	up 4
96	Randy	2,926	down 2
97	Vincent	2,893	up 6
98	Seth	2,857	up 4
99	Jeremiah	2,849	down 10
100	Curtis	2,847	up 1

Biggest climbers in 1983

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1982.

Girls

Trista: up 686 places, from 971st to 285th
Ashly: up 368 places, from 930th to 562nd
Meghann: up 311 places, from 912th to 601st
Chelsie: up 288 places, from 935th to 647th
Kaitlin: up 268 places, from 695th to 427th
Delilah: up 261 places, from 938th to 677th
Arielle: up 247 places, from 929th to 682nd
Katelyn: up 246 places, from 718th to 472nd
Ashlie: up 229 places, from 703rd to 474th
Cassidy: up 226 places, from 756th to 530th

Boys

Jameson: up 316 places, from 778th to 462nd
Connor: up 227 places, from 953rd to 726th
Coy: up 203 places, from 934th to 731st
Cale: up 188 places, from 952nd to 764th
Duncan: up 169 places, from 922nd to 753rd
Dane: up 167 places, from 419th to 252nd
Eliot: up 165 places, from 966th to 801st
Deangelo: up 160 places, from 782nd to 622nd
Hank: up 152 places, from 982nd to 830th
Dirk: up 143 places, from 909th to 766th

New to the top 1,000 in 1983

Girls

Marquita, 112th (back after dropping out)
Mallory, 334th (its first time ever)
Savannah, 466th (back after dropping out)
Kaitlyn, 632nd (its first time ever)
Hanna, 689th (back after dropping out)
Ciji, 698th (its first time ever)
Elyse, 699th (back after dropping out)
Ashely, 706th (its first time ever)
Kirby, 719th (its first time ever)
Giselle, 795th (its first time ever)

Boys

Akeem, 617th (its first time ever)
Cassidy, 669th (its first time ever)
Kirby, 707th (back after dropping out)
Devan, 828th (its first time ever)
Martell, 832nd (its first time ever)
Remington, 852nd (its first time ever)
Irvin, 859th (back after dropping out)
Lars, 882nd (back after dropping out)
Lauren, 887th (back after dropping out)
Stephanie, 903rd (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1983?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 18.1% of the girls counted in 1983, and the top ten boys' names to 23.7% of the boys. In 1963, those shares were 16.1% for girls and 28.7% 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.