Top Baby Names of 1986

Most popular names for boys and girls in 1986.

What the Data Says About 1986

The Social Security Administration's national 1986 file shows 2,220,663 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 1986 was Michael, with 64,236 births registered nationally. The #1 girl name of 1986 was Jessica, with 52,684 births nationally. The top 100 boys captured 1,277,425 births compared with 943,238 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.

1986 sits within a specific era of U.S. naming trends. Late-20th-century years like 1986 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 1986 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 1986. Names with fewer than five occurrences nationally in 1986 are excluded from SSA's public file to protect privacy, meaning the true number of unique names given in 1986 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.

Top 100 Boys' Names Boy

Rank Name Births
1 Michael 64,236
2 Christopher 56,697
3 Matthew 46,924
4 Joshua 37,541
5 David 37,149
6 Daniel 36,574
7 James 34,055
8 Andrew 33,859
9 Robert 31,351
10 John 30,208
11 Ryan 29,525
12 Joseph 28,832
13 Brandon 27,253
14 Justin 26,636
15 William 24,333
16 Jonathan 23,973
17 Nicholas 22,800
18 Jason 22,417
19 Anthony 21,959
20 Brian 21,029
21 Kevin 19,935
22 Eric 19,528
23 Kyle 19,315
24 Adam 18,155
25 Steven 18,099
26 Thomas 17,363
27 Timothy 16,875
28 Jeremy 16,268
29 Richard 15,012
30 Benjamin 13,793
31 Jacob 13,651
32 Jeffrey 13,650
33 Aaron 12,691
34 Charles 12,625
35 Mark 12,614
36 Stephen 11,875
37 Sean 11,784
38 Zachary 11,727
39 Patrick 11,409
40 Tyler 10,912
41 Alexander 10,610
42 Dustin 10,317
43 Nathan 9,996
44 Scott 9,966
45 Paul 9,716
46 Gregory 9,533
47 Bryan 8,651
48 Jesse 8,542
49 Travis 8,480
50 Kenneth 8,453
51 Jose 8,363
52 Samuel 7,580
53 Jordan 7,304
54 Bradley 7,043
55 Shawn 7,018
56 Cody 6,934
57 Derek 6,901
58 Jared 6,118
59 Chad 6,026
60 Peter 5,797
61 Edward 5,779
62 Corey 5,762
63 Marcus 5,279
64 Alex 5,112
65 Juan 5,076
66 Keith 5,040
67 Shane 4,929
68 Cory 4,871
69 Brett 4,731
70 Phillip 4,706
71 Donald 4,662
72 Joel 4,506
73 Antonio 4,406
74 George 4,346
75 Ronald 4,224
76 Carlos 4,089
77 Raymond 4,055
78 Nathaniel 4,031
79 Luis 4,027
80 Craig 3,926
81 Evan 3,888
82 Douglas 3,763
83 Casey 3,762
84 Gary 3,719
85 Ian 3,714
86 Philip 3,665
87 Derrick 3,326
88 Victor 3,293
89 Christian 3,214
90 Austin 3,202
91 Frank 3,178
92 Erik 3,110
93 Vincent 3,092
94 Brent 3,061
95 Gabriel 3,046
96 Wesley 3,043
97 Seth 2,981
98 Trevor 2,979
99 Adrian 2,943
100 Curtis 2,909

Top 100 Girls' Names Girl

Rank Name Births
1 Jessica 52,684
2 Ashley 49,672
3 Amanda 40,532
4 Jennifer 36,189
5 Sarah 28,164
6 Stephanie 22,648
7 Nicole 21,292
8 Brittany 20,313
9 Heather 19,789
10 Elizabeth 19,074
11 Megan 18,591
12 Melissa 17,667
13 Amber 16,955
14 Lauren 16,683
15 Rachel 15,456
16 Danielle 14,943
17 Tiffany 14,483
18 Kimberly 14,418
19 Christina 14,386
20 Laura 14,173
21 Samantha 14,092
22 Amy 13,451
23 Michelle 13,303
24 Emily 13,236
25 Crystal 12,689
26 Rebecca 11,793
27 Sara 11,052
28 Katherine 10,570
29 Kelly 10,411
30 Erin 10,068
31 Erica 9,972
32 Whitney 9,536
33 Angela 9,269
34 Jamie 9,234
35 Courtney 9,122
36 Andrea 8,640
37 Mary 8,507
38 Katie 8,333
39 Lindsey 8,051
40 Lisa 7,906
41 Kristen 7,844
42 Allison 7,575
43 Vanessa 7,468
44 Shannon 7,403
45 Alicia 7,017
46 Lindsay 6,952
47 Christine 6,917
48 Kathryn 6,393
49 Maria 6,141
50 Kristin 6,000
51 Anna 5,906
52 Natalie 5,707
53 April 5,677
54 Victoria 5,676
55 Jenna 5,416
56 Tara 5,085
57 Jacqueline 5,036
58 Julie 5,016
59 Monica 5,014
60 Cassandra 4,989
61 Krystal 4,929
62 Holly 4,839
63 Kristina 4,839
64 Kayla 4,657
65 Brittney 4,593
66 Patricia 4,246
67 Catherine 4,242
68 Kathleen 4,129
69 Caitlin 3,881
70 Natasha 3,872
71 Meghan 3,869
72 Alexandra 3,809
73 Chelsea 3,753
74 Erika 3,678
75 Diana 3,669
76 Valerie 3,618
77 Veronica 3,579
78 Leah 3,457
79 Brandi 3,432
80 Casey 3,423
81 Cynthia 3,422
82 Hannah 3,388
83 Mallory 3,325
84 Brandy 3,295
85 Alyssa 3,225
86 Leslie 3,225
87 Stacy 3,220
88 Julia 3,109
89 Margaret 3,085
90 Felicia 3,084
91 Bethany 3,082
92 Dana 3,076
93 Krista 3,054
94 Stacey 3,041
95 Jasmine 2,992
96 Alison 2,975
97 Melanie 2,973
98 Dominique 2,944
99 Katrina 2,829
100 Karen 2,801

Nearby Year & Decade Rankings

Compare 1986 with adjacent years and the surrounding decade

Compare 1986 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.

Data sourced from official U.S. government datasets. See our methodology for details.