Top Baby Names of 1985

Most popular names for boys and girls in 1985.

What the Data Says About 1985

The Social Security Administration's national 1985 file shows 2,243,259 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 1985 was Michael, with 64,936 births registered nationally. The #1 girl name of 1985 was Jessica, with 48,348 births nationally. The top 100 boys captured 1,290,370 births compared with 952,889 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.

1985 sits within a specific era of U.S. naming trends. Late-20th-century years like 1985 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 Jessica leading 1985 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 1985. Names with fewer than five occurrences nationally in 1985 are excluded from SSA's public file to protect privacy, meaning the true number of unique names given in 1985 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.

← 1984
1985
1986 →

Top 100 Boys' Names Boy

Rank Name Births
1 Michael 64,936
2 Christopher 59,616
3 Matthew 47,079
4 Joshua 42,198
5 Daniel 38,564
6 David 38,527
7 James 35,864
8 Robert 32,095
9 John 31,499
10 Joseph 30,219
11 Andrew 30,180
12 Ryan 29,909
13 Brandon 29,307
14 Jason 26,036
15 Justin 25,536
16 William 24,608
17 Jonathan 24,116
18 Brian 23,068
19 Nicholas 22,384
20 Anthony 22,099
21 Eric 20,843
22 Adam 20,165
23 Kevin 18,813
24 Steven 18,728
25 Thomas 17,607
26 Timothy 17,138
27 Kyle 16,520
28 Richard 15,328
29 Jeffrey 14,501
30 Jeremy 13,446
31 Benjamin 13,427
32 Mark 13,197
33 Aaron 13,138
34 Charles 12,899
35 Jacob 12,286
36 Stephen 12,210
37 Patrick 11,641
38 Sean 11,455
39 Zachary 11,346
40 Nathan 10,652
41 Dustin 10,439
42 Paul 10,315
43 Tyler 10,211
44 Scott 10,146
45 Gregory 9,769
46 Travis 9,094
47 Kenneth 8,994
48 Bryan 8,717
49 Jose 8,402
50 Alexander 8,298
51 Jesse 8,222
52 Cody 7,095
53 Bradley 7,012
54 Samuel 7,010
55 Shawn 6,981
56 Derek 6,661
57 Chad 6,467
58 Jared 5,883
59 Edward 5,869
60 Peter 5,674
61 Marcus 5,586
62 Jordan 5,461
63 Corey 5,230
64 Keith 5,215
65 Juan 4,852
66 Donald 4,750
67 Joel 4,623
68 Shane 4,549
69 Phillip 4,495
70 Brett 4,328
71 Ronald 4,299
72 George 4,260
73 Antonio 4,150
74 Carlos 4,089
75 Raymond 4,085
76 Douglas 4,021
77 Nathaniel 4,003
78 Ian 3,999
79 Craig 3,954
80 Alex 3,907
81 Cory 3,868
82 Gary 3,812
83 Derrick 3,779
84 Philip 3,736
85 Luis 3,705
86 Casey 3,490
87 Erik 3,372
88 Victor 3,342
89 Brent 3,321
90 Frank 3,303
91 Evan 3,219
92 Gabriel 3,215
93 Adrian 3,132
94 Wesley 3,044
95 Vincent 3,040
96 Jeffery 2,947
97 Larry 2,946
98 Curtis 2,943
99 Todd 2,939
100 Blake 2,922

Top 100 Girls' Names Girl

Rank Name Births
1 Jessica 48,348
2 Ashley 47,008
3 Jennifer 42,660
4 Amanda 39,056
5 Sarah 24,878
6 Stephanie 23,244
7 Nicole 22,967
8 Heather 21,152
9 Elizabeth 20,545
10 Megan 20,012
11 Melissa 19,963
12 Christina 16,600
13 Rachel 16,361
14 Laura 16,002
15 Lauren 15,768
16 Amber 15,506
17 Brittany 15,437
18 Danielle 15,417
19 Kimberly 14,913
20 Amy 14,429
21 Crystal 14,398
22 Michelle 13,976
23 Tiffany 13,681
24 Emily 13,143
25 Rebecca 12,704
26 Erin 11,384
27 Jamie 11,038
28 Kelly 11,031
29 Samantha 10,658
30 Sara 10,562
31 Angela 10,225
32 Katherine 10,129
33 Andrea 10,053
34 Erica 9,525
35 Mary 9,239
36 Lisa 9,015
37 Lindsey 8,468
38 Kristen 8,445
39 Katie 7,996
40 Lindsay 7,871
41 Shannon 7,714
42 Vanessa 7,564
43 Courtney 7,530
44 Christine 7,441
45 Alicia 7,122
46 Allison 7,028
47 April 6,691
48 Kathryn 6,634
49 Kristin 6,567
50 Jenna 6,436
51 Tara 6,102
52 Maria 6,013
53 Krystal 5,933
54 Anna 5,885
55 Julie 5,763
56 Holly 5,602
57 Kristina 5,566
58 Natalie 5,536
59 Victoria 5,426
60 Jacqueline 5,250
61 Monica 4,989
62 Cassandra 4,727
63 Meghan 4,670
64 Patricia 4,402
65 Catherine 4,297
66 Cynthia 4,130
67 Stacy 4,109
68 Kathleen 4,086
69 Brandi 4,045
70 Brandy 3,901
71 Valerie 3,881
72 Veronica 3,875
73 Whitney 3,832
74 Diana 3,686
75 Chelsea 3,613
76 Leslie 3,606
77 Caitlin 3,593
78 Leah 3,572
79 Natasha 3,553
80 Erika 3,504
81 Latoya 3,402
82 Dana 3,348
83 Dominique 3,299
84 Brittney 3,224
85 Julia 3,205
86 Candice 3,195
87 Karen 3,138
88 Melanie 3,132
89 Stacey 3,114
90 Margaret 3,071
91 Sheena 3,062
92 Alexandra 3,017
93 Katrina 2,978
94 Bethany 2,957
95 Nichole 2,950
96 Carrie 2,943
97 Alison 2,829
98 Kara 2,811
99 Joanna 2,772
100 Rachael 2,761
← 1984
1986 →

Nearby Year & Decade Rankings

Compare 1985 with adjacent years and the surrounding decade

1984 Top Names
National top 100
1986 Top Names
National top 100
1980s Decade
Decade-level rollup
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Compare 1985 leaders: Michael vs Jessica → 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 official U.S. government datasets. See our methodology for details.