Top Names of 1986
The most popular names recorded in 1986 were Jessica for girls
and Michael for boys. Full top-50 lists below, from official SSA data.
Girls
| # | Name | Babies |
|---|
| 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 |
Boys
| # | Name | Babies |
|---|
| 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 |