Baby names in New York in the 1980s

In New York in the 1980s the most given names were Michael (58,999 boys) and Jennifer (32,177 girls), of 2,274,906 births recorded.

1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s

Babies SSA recorded in New York each year, the 1980s shaded

Births under names given to 5 or more babies of one sex in the state that year.

New York, 1980-1989: SSA state baby-name file, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s state data.

The top names in New York, 1980s

Girls, 1980-1989
#	Name	Births
1	Jennifer	32,177
2	Jessica	31,560
3	Nicole	21,042
4	Amanda	19,280
5	Melissa	17,824
6	Stephanie	15,602
7	Sarah	14,837
8	Ashley	14,296
9	Danielle	13,903
10	Elizabeth	13,656
11	Christina	12,819
12	Michelle	12,542
13	Lauren	12,438
14	Kimberly	9,824
15	Tiffany	9,741
16	Samantha	9,434
17	Heather	9,172
18	Lisa	8,965
19	Rachel	8,840
20	Laura	8,566

Boys, 1980-1989
#	Name	Births
1	Michael	58,999
2	Christopher	38,241
3	Matthew	31,291
4	Joseph	28,756
5	Daniel	28,019
6	David	27,487
7	John	24,233
8	Robert	23,344
9	Jason	22,233
10	James	22,149
11	Anthony	21,457
12	Andrew	19,788
13	Jonathan	18,966
14	Brian	18,488
15	Joshua	16,868
16	William	16,228
17	Nicholas	15,952
18	Thomas	15,658
19	Kevin	15,212
20	Justin	14,718

Births summed over 1980-1989, per sex.

The names most over-represented in New York in the 1980s

Each figure is the name’s births in the state in the decade against the births its national share, year by year, would predict (names with at least 100 births in the state).

Girls

Raizy · 14.2×Malky · 14.1×Gitty · 13.9×Cassandr · 13.8×Jacqueli · 13.8×Alexandr · 13.8×

Boys

Alexande · 13.2×Yoel · 12.6×Benzion · 12.6×Moishe · 12.4×Yakov · 11.6×Mendel · 11.4×

Ratios: observed over predicted births, 1980-1989.

More about names in New York

The 1980s across the U.S.The most given names of the decade nationally.
New York: 2025 and every year since 1910The state’s top names now and its number ones by year.
New York in the 1990sThe next decade in the state.
The top names of 1980The first year of the decade, nationally.
Every state’s most given namesEach state since 1910.
Look up any nameIts rank, births since 1880 and the people alive with it.

Back to New York: 2025 and every year since 1910