Top Baby Names of 1981

Most popular names for boys and girls in 1981.

What the Data Says About 1981

The Social Security Administration's national 1981 file shows 2,166,336 births concentrated in the top 100 boy and top 100 girl names, the segment of U.S. baby-name data released to the public for that year. The #1 boy name of 1981 was Michael, with 68,750 births registered nationally. The #1 girl name of 1981 was Jennifer, with 57,046 births nationally. The top 100 boys captured 1,252,402 births compared with 913,934 for the top 100 girls, consistent with the historical SSA pattern in which a smaller pool of boy names dominates a larger share of annual births while girl names are more evenly distributed.

1981 sits within a specific era of U.S. naming trends. Late-20th-century years like 1981 reflect accelerating naming diversification, with Jennifer, Jessica, Michael, and Christopher giving way to more varied choices and the gradual fragmentation of top-10 dominance. Michael and Jennifer leading 1981 fits this broader cultural signature.

These rankings come directly from Social Security Administration card applications and represent approximately 96% of all U.S. births in 1981. Names with fewer than five occurrences nationally in 1981 are excluded from SSA's public file to protect privacy, meaning the true number of unique names given in 1981 is significantly larger than any public top-100 list can show. Each spelling variation is counted separately, Sophia and Sofia, Aiden and Ayden, so rankings reflect only the specific spelling filed on the SS card, not combined name pools. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute naming advice.

← 1980
1981
1982 →

Top 100 Boys' Names Boy

Rank Name Births
1 Michael 68,750
2 Christopher 50,221
3 Matthew 43,330
4 Jason 41,927
5 David 40,629
6 Joshua 39,024
7 James 38,283
8 John 34,868
9 Robert 34,395
10 Daniel 30,985
11 Joseph 30,761
12 Justin 27,307
13 Ryan 26,811
14 Brian 26,583
15 William 24,798
16 Jonathan 22,588
17 Eric 20,712
18 Andrew 20,232
19 Brandon 20,206
20 Adam 20,044
21 Nicholas 19,775
22 Jeremy 19,113
23 Anthony 18,569
24 Timothy 18,228
25 Kevin 17,454
26 Thomas 17,159
27 Richard 16,855
28 Steven 16,482
29 Jeffrey 15,931
30 Aaron 14,694
31 Charles 14,427
32 Benjamin 14,360
33 Mark 13,542
34 Scott 12,719
35 Paul 11,776
36 Nathan 11,256
37 Jesse 10,443
38 Patrick 10,384
39 Stephen 10,302
40 Travis 10,109
41 Kenneth 9,472
42 Dustin 9,350
43 Jacob 9,342
44 Sean 8,893
45 Jose 8,773
46 Gregory 8,756
47 Chad 8,412
48 Bryan 7,215
49 Shawn 7,076
50 Bradley 6,895
51 Edward 6,661
52 Kyle 6,570
53 Derek 6,481
54 Samuel 6,036
55 Peter 5,997
56 Donald 5,910
57 Jared 5,865
58 Keith 5,621
59 Ronald 5,538
60 Juan 5,499
61 George 5,157
62 Gary 4,946
63 Zachary 4,841
64 Douglas 4,788
65 Joel 4,540
66 Phillip 4,539
67 Marcus 4,510
68 Raymond 4,367
69 Corey 4,247
70 Alexander 4,237
71 Carlos 4,185
72 Craig 4,097
73 Larry 3,955
74 Todd 3,953
75 Antonio 3,926
76 Erik 3,921
77 Jeremiah 3,896
78 Derrick 3,850
79 Brett 3,775
80 Nathaniel 3,719
81 Shane 3,710
82 Frank 3,638
83 Dennis 3,634
84 Philip 3,581
85 Casey 3,518
86 Shaun 3,383
87 Gabriel 3,373
88 Brent 3,371
89 Lucas 3,371
90 Cory 3,352
91 Randy 3,343
92 Luis 3,342
93 Jeffery 3,334
94 Curtis 3,198
95 Seth 3,137
96 Tyler 3,117
97 Jerry 3,056
98 Russell 3,048
99 Wesley 3,040
100 Luke 3,013

Top 100 Girls' Names Girl

Rank Name Births
1 Jennifer 57,046
2 Jessica 42,531
3 Amanda 34,372
4 Sarah 28,175
5 Melissa 28,005
6 Amy 20,345
7 Nicole 20,310
8 Stephanie 20,212
9 Elizabeth 20,168
10 Heather 17,946
11 Michelle 17,781
12 Rebecca 16,737
13 Kimberly 16,689
14 Tiffany 16,416
15 Angela 15,924
16 Crystal 15,888
17 Christina 14,392
18 Lisa 14,294
19 Erin 13,853
20 Amber 13,814
21 Laura 13,292
22 Rachel 12,590
23 Kelly 11,873
24 Andrea 11,686
25 April 11,406
26 Sara 11,359
27 Mary 11,042
28 Jamie 10,982
29 Emily 10,799
30 Danielle 10,038
31 Kristin 9,737
32 Shannon 9,226
33 Megan 8,964
34 Ashley 8,874
35 Lauren 8,813
36 Erica 8,626
37 Julie 8,567
38 Kristen 8,540
39 Katherine 8,433
40 Maria 7,681
41 Brandy 6,898
42 Christine 6,854
43 Courtney 6,636
44 Katie 6,600
45 Tara 6,366
46 Alicia 5,855
47 Lindsay 5,843
48 Kathryn 5,823
49 Monica 5,782
50 Brandi 5,527
51 Samantha 5,516
52 Brooke 5,328
53 Patricia 5,284
54 Anna 5,192
55 Carrie 5,094
56 Leslie 4,934
57 Allison 4,904
58 Lindsey 4,863
59 Cynthia 4,859
60 Natalie 4,858
61 Misty 4,799
62 Vanessa 4,749
63 Holly 4,564
64 Karen 4,539
65 Stacy 4,479
66 Melanie 4,475
67 Jacqueline 4,334
68 Veronica 4,313
69 Latoya 4,266
70 Dana 4,246
71 Susan 4,244
72 Kristina 4,061
73 Catherine 4,057
74 Sandra 4,037
75 Diana 3,971
76 Pamela 3,881
77 Tracy 3,869
78 Jill 3,857
79 Dawn 3,839
80 Tina 3,821
81 Leah 3,808
82 Kathleen 3,776
83 Stacey 3,754
84 Heidi 3,738
85 Natasha 3,730
86 Candice 3,698
87 Victoria 3,689
88 Julia 3,668
89 Valerie 3,611
90 Wendy 3,608
91 Lori 3,479
92 Tanya 3,408
93 Erika 3,399
94 Kristy 3,263
95 Katrina 3,257
96 Denise 3,201
97 Teresa 3,121
98 Renee 2,997
99 Christy 2,943
100 Theresa 2,943
← 1980
1982 →

Nearby Year & Decade Rankings

Compare 1981 with adjacent years and the surrounding decade

1980 Top Names
National top 100
1982 Top Names
National top 100
1980s Decade
Decade-level rollup
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Compare 1981 leaders: Michael vs Jennifer → or pick any two names →

Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications, National Data (ssa.gov/oact/babynames).

Source: SSA Baby Names Methodology, names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are excluded to protect privacy.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from the U.S. Social Security Administration. See our methodology for details.