Top Names of 1981
The most popular names recorded in 1981 were Jennifer for girls
and Michael for boys. Full top-50 lists below, from official SSA data.
Girls
| # | Name | Babies |
|---|
| 1 | Jennifer | 57,048 |
| 2 | Jessica | 42,532 |
| 3 | Amanda | 34,373 |
| 4 | Sarah | 28,174 |
| 5 | Melissa | 28,005 |
| 6 | Amy | 20,344 |
| 7 | Nicole | 20,311 |
| 8 | Stephanie | 20,213 |
| 9 | Elizabeth | 20,169 |
| 10 | Heather | 17,946 |
| 11 | Michelle | 17,782 |
| 12 | Rebecca | 16,737 |
| 13 | Kimberly | 16,689 |
| 14 | Tiffany | 16,416 |
| 15 | Angela | 15,926 |
| 16 | Crystal | 15,888 |
| 17 | Christina | 14,392 |
| 18 | Lisa | 14,295 |
| 19 | Erin | 13,853 |
| 20 | Amber | 13,813 |
| 21 | Laura | 13,291 |
| 22 | Rachel | 12,590 |
| 23 | Kelly | 11,873 |
| 24 | Andrea | 11,685 |
| 25 | April | 11,405 |
| 26 | Sara | 11,358 |
| 27 | Mary | 11,043 |
| 28 | Jamie | 10,982 |
| 29 | Emily | 10,799 |
| 30 | Danielle | 10,039 |
| 31 | Kristin | 9,737 |
| 32 | Shannon | 9,227 |
| 33 | Megan | 8,966 |
| 34 | Ashley | 8,874 |
| 35 | Lauren | 8,813 |
| 36 | Erica | 8,624 |
| 37 | Julie | 8,568 |
| 38 | Kristen | 8,541 |
| 39 | Katherine | 8,433 |
| 40 | Maria | 7,683 |
| 41 | Brandy | 6,897 |
| 42 | Christine | 6,854 |
| 43 | Courtney | 6,638 |
| 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 |
Boys
| # | Name | Babies |
|---|
| 1 | Michael | 68,759 |
| 2 | Christopher | 50,221 |
| 3 | Matthew | 43,328 |
| 4 | Jason | 41,928 |
| 5 | David | 40,633 |
| 6 | Joshua | 39,027 |
| 7 | James | 38,289 |
| 8 | John | 34,872 |
| 9 | Robert | 34,397 |
| 10 | Daniel | 30,989 |
| 11 | Joseph | 30,764 |
| 12 | Justin | 27,308 |
| 13 | Ryan | 26,814 |
| 14 | Brian | 26,582 |
| 15 | William | 24,801 |
| 16 | Jonathan | 22,593 |
| 17 | Eric | 20,715 |
| 18 | Andrew | 20,234 |
| 19 | Brandon | 20,205 |
| 20 | Adam | 20,042 |
| 21 | Nicholas | 19,777 |
| 22 | Jeremy | 19,111 |
| 23 | Anthony | 18,574 |
| 24 | Timothy | 18,228 |
| 25 | Kevin | 17,456 |
| 26 | Thomas | 17,160 |
| 27 | Richard | 16,855 |
| 28 | Steven | 16,484 |
| 29 | Jeffrey | 15,932 |
| 30 | Aaron | 14,692 |
| 31 | Charles | 14,428 |
| 32 | Benjamin | 14,361 |
| 33 | Mark | 13,544 |
| 34 | Scott | 12,721 |
| 35 | Paul | 11,778 |
| 36 | Nathan | 11,258 |
| 37 | Jesse | 10,444 |
| 38 | Patrick | 10,384 |
| 39 | Stephen | 10,302 |
| 40 | Travis | 10,109 |
| 41 | Kenneth | 9,473 |
| 42 | Dustin | 9,353 |
| 43 | Jacob | 9,345 |
| 44 | Sean | 8,892 |
| 45 | Jose | 8,773 |
| 46 | Gregory | 8,758 |
| 47 | Chad | 8,413 |
| 48 | Bryan | 7,215 |
| 49 | Shawn | 7,076 |
| 50 | Bradley | 6,896 |