Top Baby Names of 1984

Most popular names for boys and girls in 1984.

What the Data Says About 1984

The Social Security Administration's national 1984 file shows 2,210,298 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 1984 was Michael, with 67,735 births registered nationally. The #1 girl name of 1984 was Jennifer, with 50,564 births nationally. The top 100 boys captured 1,269,282 births compared with 941,016 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.

1984 sits within a specific era of U.S. naming trends. Late-20th-century years like 1984 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 1984 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 1984. Names with fewer than five occurrences nationally in 1984 are excluded from SSA's public file to protect privacy, meaning the true number of unique names given in 1984 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.

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1984
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Top 100 Boys' Names Boy

Rank Name Births
1 Michael 67,735
2 Christopher 60,021
3 Matthew 49,767
4 Joshua 40,266
5 David 38,492
6 Daniel 36,531
7 James 35,859
8 John 32,610
9 Robert 31,768
10 Joseph 30,513
11 Jason 29,953
12 Ryan 28,724
13 Justin 26,769
14 Andrew 25,916
15 Brandon 25,673
16 William 24,900
17 Brian 24,720
18 Adam 23,939
19 Jonathan 23,345
20 Nicholas 21,017
21 Anthony 20,956
22 Eric 20,955
23 Steven 18,217
24 Kevin 17,858
25 Thomas 17,596
26 Timothy 16,987
27 Richard 15,607
28 Jeffrey 14,758
29 Aaron 13,401
30 Benjamin 13,266
31 Jeremy 13,250
32 Mark 13,214
33 Charles 12,942
34 Kyle 12,546
35 Stephen 12,096
36 Patrick 11,524
37 Jacob 11,358
38 Nathan 10,614
39 Scott 10,574
40 Paul 10,460
41 Dustin 10,403
42 Travis 10,241
43 Sean 10,024
44 Gregory 9,688
45 Zachary 9,065
46 Kenneth 8,790
47 Tyler 8,705
48 Bryan 8,270
49 Jose 8,013
50 Jesse 7,606
51 Chad 7,062
52 Derek 6,972
53 Bradley 6,567
54 Alexander 6,492
55 Samuel 6,362
56 Shawn 6,049
57 Marcus 5,996
58 Edward 5,914
59 Jared 5,685
60 Peter 5,633
61 Keith 5,327
62 Cody 5,209
63 Donald 5,062
64 Juan 4,644
65 Jordan 4,540
66 Joel 4,524
67 Ronald 4,507
68 George 4,265
69 Corey 4,243
70 Phillip 4,234
71 Douglas 4,142
72 Brett 4,096
73 Raymond 3,971
74 Carlos 3,964
75 Craig 3,959
76 Gary 3,951
77 Antonio 3,880
78 Ian 3,796
79 Derrick 3,661
80 Nathaniel 3,600
81 Philip 3,519
82 Casey 3,511
83 Cory 3,505
84 Erik 3,422
85 Shane 3,335
86 Frank 3,330
87 Gabriel 3,325
88 Luis 3,261
89 Brent 3,186
90 Victor 3,178
91 Larry 3,105
92 Todd 3,104
93 Alex 3,026
94 Jeffery 3,025
95 Vincent 2,972
96 Curtis 2,959
97 Dennis 2,953
98 Evan 2,937
99 Seth 2,911
100 Randy 2,909

Top 100 Girls' Names Girl

Rank Name Births
1 Jennifer 50,564
2 Jessica 45,857
3 Ashley 38,773
4 Amanda 33,915
5 Sarah 25,887
6 Stephanie 23,025
7 Nicole 22,270
8 Melissa 21,896
9 Heather 21,489
10 Elizabeth 20,360
11 Megan 16,984
12 Crystal 16,560
13 Amy 15,988
14 Tiffany 15,861
15 Rachel 15,839
16 Danielle 15,670
17 Michelle 15,499
18 Amber 15,369
19 Laura 14,818
20 Christina 14,705
21 Lauren 14,475
22 Kimberly 14,445
23 Rebecca 13,348
24 Emily 12,786
25 Erin 12,622
26 Angela 11,291
27 Kelly 11,216
28 Andrea 10,350
29 Lisa 10,238
30 Katherine 10,157
31 Jamie 9,761
32 Sara 9,314
33 Mary 9,293
34 Erica 9,278
35 Lindsey 9,005
36 Lindsay 8,510
37 Shannon 8,476
38 Kristen 8,385
39 Samantha 8,038
40 Alicia 7,820
41 Brittany 7,665
42 April 7,566
43 Christine 7,299
44 Katie 7,175
45 Vanessa 7,156
46 Courtney 7,150
47 Kristin 7,007
48 Kathryn 6,538
49 Tara 6,284
50 Maria 6,136
51 Allison 6,041
52 Julie 5,942
53 Holly 5,928
54 Jenna 5,882
55 Natalie 5,555
56 Jacqueline 5,549
57 Anna 5,306
58 Monica 5,131
59 Victoria 5,076
60 Latoya 5,051
61 Brandi 4,848
62 Cynthia 4,622
63 Cassandra 4,583
64 Brandy 4,580
65 Meghan 4,505
66 Patricia 4,476
67 Stacy 4,447
68 Kristina 4,328
69 Catherine 4,240
70 Veronica 4,013
71 Kathleen 3,985
72 Diana 3,965
73 Dana 3,939
74 Krystal 3,933
75 Leslie 3,817
76 Valerie 3,722
77 Natasha 3,709
78 Carrie 3,691
79 Stacey 3,649
80 Sheena 3,597
81 Erika 3,542
82 Karen 3,536
83 Leah 3,535
84 Chelsea 3,530
85 Melanie 3,516
86 Candice 3,393
87 Julia 3,359
88 Joanna 3,332
89 Alexis 3,292
90 Susan 3,116
91 Tracy 3,051
92 Margaret 3,033
93 Bethany 2,980
94 Sandra 2,881
95 Kara 2,855
96 Alexandra 2,814
97 Nichole 2,806
98 Misty 2,792
99 Brooke 2,749
100 Kayla 2,681
← 1983
1985 →

Nearby Year & Decade Rankings

Compare 1984 with adjacent years and the surrounding decade

1983 Top Names
National top 100
1985 Top Names
National top 100
1980s Decade
Decade-level rollup
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Compare 1984 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.