Most Popular Baby Names of 1985

In 1985, Jessica was the most popular name for girls, given to 48,345 babies, and Michael topped the boys' list with 64,934. Jessica took the top spot from Jennifer, and Michael held on to number one for a 25th year in a row.

Social Security counted 1,720,828 girls and 1,848,210 boys born in 1985 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 12,505 different girls' names and 7,586 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1985

Top girls' names, 1985
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1984
1	Jessica	48,345	up 1
2	Ashley	47,010	up 1
3	Jennifer	42,661	down 2
4	Amanda	39,055	same
5	Sarah	24,879	same
6	Stephanie	23,243	same
7	Nicole	22,966	same
8	Heather	21,151	up 1
9	Elizabeth	20,545	up 1
10	Megan	20,013	up 1
11	Melissa	19,963	down 3
12	Christina	16,600	up 8
13	Rachel	16,360	up 2
14	Laura	16,002	up 5
15	Lauren	15,768	up 6
16	Amber	15,506	up 2
17	Brittany	15,437	up 24
18	Danielle	15,417	down 2
19	Kimberly	14,914	up 3
20	Amy	14,429	down 7
21	Crystal	14,399	down 9
22	Michelle	13,973	down 5
23	Tiffany	13,681	down 9
24	Emily	13,144	same
25	Rebecca	12,705	down 2
26	Erin	11,384	down 1
27	Jamie	11,038	up 4
28	Kelly	11,031	down 1
29	Samantha	10,658	up 10
30	Sara	10,562	up 2
31	Angela	10,227	down 5
32	Katherine	10,128	down 2
33	Andrea	10,053	down 5
34	Erica	9,525	same
35	Mary	9,240	down 2
36	Lisa	9,012	down 7
37	Lindsey	8,468	down 2
38	Kristen	8,445	same
39	Katie	7,995	up 5
40	Lindsay	7,871	down 4
41	Shannon	7,714	down 4
42	Vanessa	7,563	up 3
43	Courtney	7,531	up 3
44	Christine	7,441	down 1
45	Alicia	7,122	down 5
46	Allison	7,028	up 5
47	April	6,691	down 5
48	Kathryn	6,634	same
49	Kristin	6,566	down 2
50	Jenna	6,436	up 4
51	Tara	6,102	down 2
52	Maria	6,013	down 2
53	Krystal	5,933	up 21
54	Anna	5,883	up 3
55	Julie	5,761	down 3
56	Holly	5,602	down 3
57	Kristina	5,566	up 11
58	Natalie	5,535	down 3
59	Victoria	5,426	same
60	Jacqueline	5,250	down 4
61	Monica	4,990	down 3
62	Cassandra	4,726	up 1
63	Meghan	4,669	up 2
64	Patricia	4,402	up 2
65	Catherine	4,297	up 4
66	Cynthia	4,129	down 4
67	Stacy	4,109	same
68	Kathleen	4,087	up 3
69	Brandi	4,045	down 8
70	Brandy	3,901	down 6
71	Valerie	3,881	up 5
72	Veronica	3,875	down 2
73	Whitney	3,832	up 52
74	Diana	3,686	down 2
75	Chelsea	3,613	up 9
76	Leslie	3,607	down 1
77	Caitlin	3,593	up 41
78	Leah	3,572	up 5
79	Natasha	3,553	down 2
80	Erika	3,503	up 1
81	Latoya	3,402	down 21
82	Dana	3,348	down 9
83	Dominique	3,299	up 126
84	Brittney	3,224	up 92
85	Julia	3,206	up 2
86	Candice	3,195	same
87	Karen	3,138	down 5
88	Melanie	3,132	down 3
89	Stacey	3,114	down 10
90	Margaret	3,072	up 2
91	Sheena	3,062	down 11
92	Alexandra	3,017	up 4
93	Katrina	2,978	up 12
94	Bethany	2,959	down 1
95	Nichole	2,950	up 2
96	Carrie	2,942	down 18
97	Alison	2,829	up 13
98	Kara	2,811	down 3
99	Joanna	2,772	down 11
100	Rachael	2,761	up 3

Top boys' names, 1985
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1984
1	Michael	64,934	same
2	Christopher	59,609	same
3	Matthew	47,075	same
4	Joshua	42,194	same
5	Daniel	38,559	up 1
6	David	38,522	down 1
7	James	35,862	same
8	Robert	32,094	up 1
9	John	31,502	down 1
10	Joseph	30,222	same
11	Andrew	30,178	up 3
12	Ryan	29,905	same
13	Brandon	29,304	up 2
14	Jason	26,039	down 3
15	Justin	25,537	down 2
16	William	24,606	same
17	Jonathan	24,116	up 2
18	Brian	23,069	down 1
19	Nicholas	22,384	up 1
20	Anthony	22,104	up 1
21	Eric	20,844	up 1
22	Adam	20,165	down 4
23	Kevin	18,814	up 1
24	Steven	18,726	down 1
25	Thomas	17,609	same
26	Timothy	17,140	same
27	Kyle	16,523	up 7
28	Richard	15,330	down 1
29	Jeffrey	14,500	down 1
30	Jeremy	13,445	up 1
31	Benjamin	13,423	down 1
32	Mark	13,194	same
33	Aaron	13,137	down 4
34	Charles	12,900	down 1
35	Jacob	12,284	up 2
36	Stephen	12,210	down 1
37	Patrick	11,638	down 1
38	Sean	11,455	up 5
39	Zachary	11,346	up 6
40	Nathan	10,653	down 2
41	Dustin	10,439	same
42	Paul	10,315	down 2
43	Tyler	10,211	up 4
44	Scott	10,145	down 5
45	Gregory	9,767	down 1
46	Travis	9,094	down 4
47	Kenneth	8,992	down 1
48	Bryan	8,717	same
49	Jose	8,403	same
50	Alexander	8,295	up 4
51	Jesse	8,221	down 1
52	Cody	7,096	up 10
53	Bradley	7,011	same
54	Samuel	7,009	up 1
55	Shawn	6,982	up 1
56	Derek	6,661	down 4
57	Chad	6,466	down 6
58	Jared	5,883	up 1
59	Edward	5,869	down 1
60	Peter	5,671	same
61	Marcus	5,586	down 4
62	Jordan	5,460	up 3
63	Corey	5,228	up 6
64	Keith	5,214	down 3
65	Juan	4,851	down 1
66	Donald	4,750	down 3
67	Joel	4,623	down 1
68	Shane	4,549	up 17
69	Phillip	4,496	up 1
70	Brett	4,328	up 2
71	Ronald	4,299	down 4
72	George	4,259	down 4
73	Antonio	4,151	up 4
74	Carlos	4,089	same
75	Raymond	4,085	down 2
76	Douglas	4,021	down 5
77	Nathaniel	4,004	up 3
78	Ian	3,998	same
79	Craig	3,952	down 4
80	Alex	3,909	up 13
81	Cory	3,868	up 2
82	Gary	3,812	down 6
83	Derrick	3,779	down 4
84	Philip	3,735	down 3
85	Luis	3,706	up 3
86	Casey	3,490	down 4
87	Erik	3,372	down 3
88	Victor	3,341	up 2
89	Brent	3,321	same
90	Frank	3,302	down 4
91	Evan	3,219	up 7
92	Gabriel	3,215	down 5
93	Adrian	3,132	up 14
94	Wesley	3,043	up 7
95	Vincent	3,040	same
96	Jeffery	2,947	down 2
97	Larry	2,946	down 6
98	Curtis	2,943	down 2
99	Todd	2,941	down 7
100	Blake	2,922	up 3

Biggest climbers in 1985

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1984.

Girls

Sierra: up 501 places, from 717th to 216th
Marisela: up 379 places, from 874th to 495th
Ciara: up 296 places, from 707th to 411th
Chiquita: up 289 places, from 822nd to 533rd
Shante: up 287 places, from 837th to 550th
Felisha: up 265 places, from 998th to 733rd
Savanna: up 257 places, from 913th to 656th
India: up 244 places, from 562nd to 318th
Santana: up 235 places, from 757th to 522nd
Caitlyn: up 230 places, from 762nd to 532nd

Boys

Griffin: up 259 places, from 986th to 727th
Brody: up 249 places, from 884th to 635th
Jarrell: up 234 places, from 936th to 702nd
Coty: up 217 places, from 879th to 662nd
Alvaro: up 201 places, from 656th to 455th
Harrison: up 153 places, from 572nd to 419th
Lukas: up 142 places, from 770th to 628th
Tyree: up 139 places, from 765th to 626th
Devan: up 130 places, from 841st to 711th
Desmond: up 129 places, from 430th to 301st

New to the top 1,000 in 1985

Girls

Cierra, 466th (its first time ever)
Sade, 513th (its first time ever)
Krystina, 545th (its first time ever)
Micaela, 546th (its first time ever)
Domonique, 558th (its first time ever)
Keshia, 596th (back after dropping out)
Dominque, 604th (its first time ever)
Madison, 625th (its first time ever)
Ciera, 702nd (its first time ever)
Valeria, 764th (back after dropping out)

Boys

Jairo, 603rd (its first time ever)
Durell, 606th (its first time ever)
Durrell, 724th (its first time ever)
Channing, 799th (its first time ever)
Jaymes, 848th (its first time ever)
Dakota, 869th (its first time ever)
Keaton, 870th (its first time ever)
Schuyler, 876th (back after dropping out)
Derrell, 878th (back after dropping out)
Ulises, 881st (its first time ever)

How spread out were names in 1985?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 18% of the girls counted in 1985, and the top ten boys' names to 22.8% of the boys. In 1965, those shares were 16% for girls and 28.4% 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.