Most Popular Baby Names of 1987

In 1987, Jessica was the most popular name for girls, given to 55,992 babies, and Michael topped the boys' list with 63,664. Jessica held on to number one for a third year in a row, and Michael held on to number one for a 27th year in a row.

Social Security counted 1,738,632 girls and 1,866,984 boys born in 1987 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 13,263 different girls' names and 8,152 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1987

Top girls' names, 1987
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1986
1	Jessica	55,992	same
2	Ashley	54,856	same
3	Amanda	41,786	same
4	Jennifer	32,710	same
5	Sarah	27,894	same
6	Stephanie	22,402	same
7	Brittany	22,231	up 1
8	Nicole	20,286	down 1
9	Heather	18,982	same
10	Elizabeth	18,608	same
11	Samantha	17,944	up 10
12	Megan	17,823	down 1
13	Melissa	17,674	down 1
14	Danielle	17,010	up 2
15	Amber	16,749	down 2
16	Lauren	16,710	down 2
17	Rachel	15,646	down 2
18	Tiffany	14,742	down 1
19	Emily	14,710	up 5
20	Christina	13,816	down 1
21	Michelle	13,034	up 2
22	Laura	13,033	down 2
23	Kimberly	13,031	down 5
24	Amy	11,786	down 2
25	Rebecca	11,627	up 1
26	Crystal	11,011	down 1
27	Kayla	10,576	up 37
28	Katherine	10,438	same
29	Sara	10,090	down 2
30	Kelly	9,866	down 1
31	Erica	9,328	same
32	Whitney	8,923	same
33	Courtney	8,909	up 2
34	Erin	8,847	down 4
35	Angela	8,583	down 2
36	Andrea	8,496	same
37	Mary	8,395	same
38	Katie	8,197	same
39	Jamie	7,916	down 5
40	Lisa	7,549	same
41	Lindsey	7,457	down 2
42	Kristen	7,361	down 1
43	Vanessa	7,348	same
44	Allison	7,341	down 2
45	Shannon	6,968	down 1
46	Alicia	6,776	down 1
47	Chelsea	6,631	up 26
48	Christine	6,620	down 1
49	Lindsay	6,530	down 3
50	Victoria	6,255	up 4
51	Kathryn	6,238	down 3
52	Anna	6,170	down 1
53	Maria	5,678	down 4
54	Jacqueline	5,627	up 3
55	Kristin	5,463	down 5
56	Natalie	5,331	down 4
57	Jenna	5,305	down 2
58	April	5,295	down 5
59	Alexandra	5,220	up 13
60	Alyssa	5,136	up 25
61	Brittney	5,127	up 4
62	Kristina	5,018	same
63	Caitlin	4,989	up 6
64	Monica	4,809	down 5
65	Julie	4,737	down 7
66	Hannah	4,594	up 16
67	Kelsey	4,574	up 45
68	Cassandra	4,555	down 8
69	Tara	4,446	down 13
70	Krystal	4,378	down 9
71	Holly	4,259	down 8
72	Kathleen	4,165	down 4
73	Natasha	4,131	down 3
74	Catherine	4,108	down 7
75	Erika	3,994	down 1
76	Patricia	3,913	down 10
77	Kendra	3,841	up 24
78	Meghan	3,770	down 7
79	Jasmine	3,723	up 16
80	Veronica	3,616	down 3
81	Casey	3,582	down 1
82	Leah	3,454	down 4
83	Dana	3,422	up 9
84	Cynthia	3,392	down 3
85	Diana	3,354	down 10
86	Julia	3,331	up 2
87	Bethany	3,294	up 4
88	Brandi	3,244	down 9
89	Leslie	3,194	down 3
90	Margaret	3,146	same
91	Mallory	3,138	down 8
92	Brandy	3,032	down 8
93	Valerie	2,964	down 17
94	Brooke	2,955	up 10
95	Morgan	2,928	up 18
96	Felicia	2,909	down 7
97	Molly	2,891	up 13
98	Rachael	2,833	up 5
99	Jillian	2,793	up 8
100	Alison	2,771	down 4

Top boys' names, 1987
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1986
1	Michael	63,664	same
2	Christopher	54,493	same
3	Matthew	46,511	same
4	Joshua	40,002	same
5	David	36,795	same
6	Andrew	36,206	up 2
7	Daniel	35,876	down 1
8	James	32,659	down 1
9	Justin	31,491	up 5
10	Robert	30,237	down 1
11	John	29,555	down 1
12	Joseph	28,516	same
13	Ryan	28,490	down 2
14	Brandon	24,823	down 1
15	William	24,202	same
16	Nicholas	23,247	up 1
17	Anthony	23,127	up 2
18	Jonathan	23,119	down 2
19	Kevin	20,421	up 2
20	Brian	20,362	same
21	Eric	20,203	up 1
22	Kyle	19,862	up 1
23	Jason	19,350	down 5
24	Thomas	18,139	up 2
25	Steven	17,768	same
26	Timothy	17,398	up 1
27	Adam	16,931	down 3
28	Benjamin	14,892	up 2
29	Jeremy	14,474	down 1
30	Richard	14,401	down 1
31	Jacob	14,326	same
32	Jeffrey	13,477	same
33	Zachary	13,201	up 5
34	Aaron	12,685	down 1
35	Charles	12,173	down 1
36	Mark	11,993	down 1
37	Alexander	11,835	up 4
38	Stephen	11,550	down 2
39	Tyler	11,542	up 1
40	Sean	11,455	down 3
41	Patrick	11,142	down 2
42	Travis	10,397	up 7
43	Scott	10,194	up 1
44	Dustin	10,108	down 2
45	Nathan	9,910	down 2
46	Paul	9,707	down 1
47	Gregory	9,135	down 1
48	Jose	8,737	up 3
49	Cody	8,675	up 7
50	Samuel	8,576	up 2
51	Bryan	8,560	down 4
52	Jordan	8,407	up 1
53	Kenneth	8,354	down 3
54	Derek	8,253	up 3
55	Jesse	7,982	down 7
56	Bradley	6,918	down 2
57	Corey	6,444	up 5
58	Jared	6,206	same
59	Shawn	6,202	down 4
60	Alex	6,042	up 4
61	Edward	5,913	same
62	Cory	5,849	up 6
63	Chad	5,622	down 4
64	Peter	5,553	down 4
65	Shane	5,305	up 2
66	Juan	4,976	down 1
67	Marcus	4,950	down 4
68	Phillip	4,813	up 2
69	Keith	4,783	down 3
70	Donald	4,501	up 1
71	Brett	4,429	down 2
72	Antonio	4,421	up 1
73	Ronald	4,153	up 2
74	Carlos	4,149	up 2
75	Joel	4,138	down 3
76	Austin	4,096	up 14
77	George	4,089	down 3
78	Nathaniel	4,050	same
79	Raymond	3,996	down 2
80	Casey	3,928	up 3
81	Ian	3,924	up 4
82	Luis	3,921	down 3
83	Evan	3,868	down 2
84	Philip	3,837	up 2
85	Douglas	3,804	down 3
86	Derrick	3,534	up 1
87	Gary	3,486	down 3
88	Craig	3,364	down 8
89	Seth	3,339	up 8
90	Christian	3,324	down 1
91	Victor	3,307	down 3
92	Wesley	3,244	up 4
93	Trevor	3,235	up 5
94	Erik	3,231	down 2
95	Vincent	3,173	down 2
96	Cameron	3,159	up 39
97	Frank	3,123	down 6
98	Gabriel	3,079	down 3
99	Devin	3,076	up 14
100	Curtis	2,909	same

Biggest climbers in 1987

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1986.

Girls

Kaila: up 303 places, from 911th to 608th
Krystina: up 266 places, from 725th to 459th
Jessika: up 266 places, from 935th to 669th
Jazmine: up 263 places, from 858th to 595th
Diamond: up 257 places, from 959th to 702nd
Janae: up 237 places, from 727th to 490th
Jerrica: up 231 places, from 838th to 607th
Anastasia: up 226 places, from 495th to 269th
Gabriella: up 221 places, from 798th to 577th
Roxanna: up 218 places, from 852nd to 634th

Boys

Spenser: up 373 places, from 952nd to 579th
Kameron: up 274 places, from 999th to 725th
Isiah: up 238 places, from 878th to 640th
Irvin: up 224 places, from 994th to 770th
Cordero: up 209 places, from 690th to 481st
Connor: up 194 places, from 536th to 342nd
Griffin: up 183 places, from 754th to 571st
Deven: up 181 places, from 992nd to 811th
Lincoln: up 158 places, from 1000th to 842nd
Rhett: up 156 places, from 857th to 701st

New to the top 1,000 in 1987

Girls

Janay, 388th (its first time ever)
Channing, 591st (its first time ever)
Ayla, 594th (its first time ever)
Cayla, 648th (its first time ever)
Yessenia, 728th (its first time ever)
Skye, 749th (its first time ever)
Kelsi, 785th (its first time ever)
Alexia, 793rd (back after dropping out)
Jerica, 828th (its first time ever)
Alex, 829th (its first time ever)

Boys

Corbin, 592nd (back after dropping out)
Mychal, 771st (its first time ever)
Conner, 798th (its first time ever)
Madison, 823rd (back after dropping out)
Torey, 845th (back after dropping out)
Kale, 859th (back after dropping out)
Chaim, 875th (back after dropping out)
Keven, 886th (back after dropping out)
Raheem, 887th (back after dropping out)
Derrek, 892nd (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1987?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 18.2% of the girls counted in 1987, and the top ten boys' names to 21.8% of the boys. In 1967, those shares were 15.8% for girls and 28.3% 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.