NameYears

Every year/1980s

Baby names of 1981

In 1981 the most given names in the United States were Jennifer for girls (57,048 births) and Michael for boys (68,759).

← 19801982 →1961197119912001

Top 100 girls’ names

  1. Jennifer57,048
  2. Jessica42,532
  3. Amanda34,373
  4. Sarah28,174
  5. Melissa28,005
  6. Amy20,344
  7. Nicole20,311
  8. Stephanie20,213
  9. Elizabeth20,169
  10. Heather17,946
  11. Michelle17,782
  12. Rebecca16,737
  13. Kimberly16,689
  14. Tiffany16,416
  15. Angela15,926
  16. Crystal15,888
  17. Christina14,392
  18. Lisa14,295
  19. Erin13,853
  20. Amber13,813
  21. Laura13,291
  22. Rachel12,590
  23. Kelly11,873
  24. Andrea11,685
  25. April11,405
  26. Sara11,358
  27. Mary11,043
  28. Jamie10,982
  29. Emily10,799
  30. Danielle10,039
  31. Kristin9,737
  32. Shannon9,227
  33. Megan8,966
  34. Ashley8,874
  35. Lauren8,813
  36. Erica8,624
  37. Julie8,568
  38. Kristen8,541
  39. Katherine8,433
  40. Maria7,683
  41. Brandy6,897
  42. Christine6,854
  43. Courtney6,638
  44. Katie6,600
  45. Tara6,366
  46. Alicia5,855
  47. Lindsay5,843
  48. Kathryn5,823
  49. Monica5,782
  50. Brandi5,527
  51. Samantha5,517
  52. Brooke5,330
  53. Patricia5,284
  54. Anna5,192
  55. Carrie5,093
  56. Leslie4,934
  57. Allison4,905
  58. Lindsey4,863
  59. Cynthia4,859
  60. Natalie4,859
  61. Misty4,799
  62. Vanessa4,749
  63. Holly4,564
  64. Karen4,539
  65. Stacy4,479
  66. Melanie4,474
  67. Jacqueline4,336
  68. Veronica4,313
  69. Latoyanew4,266
  70. Dana4,246
  71. Susan4,244
  72. Kristina4,060
  73. Catherine4,056
  74. Sandra4,036
  75. Diananew3,971
  76. Pamela3,882
  77. Tracy3,869
  78. Jill3,857
  79. Dawn3,839
  80. Tina3,820
  81. Leah3,808
  82. Kathleen3,776
  83. Stacey3,754
  84. Heidi3,738
  85. Natasha3,730
  86. Candice3,698
  87. Victorianew3,689
  88. Julia3,668
  89. Valerie3,611
  90. Wendy3,608
  91. Lori3,479
  92. Tanya3,408
  93. Erika3,398
  94. Kristy3,263
  95. Katrina3,258
  96. Denise3,201
  97. Teresa3,122
  98. Reneenew2,997
  99. Christy2,943
  100. Theresanew2,943

Top 100 boys’ names

  1. Michael68,759
  2. Christopher50,221
  3. Matthew43,328
  4. Jason41,928
  5. David40,633
  6. Joshua39,027
  7. James38,289
  8. John34,872
  9. Robert34,397
  10. Daniel30,989
  11. Joseph30,764
  12. Justin27,308
  13. Ryan26,814
  14. Brian26,582
  15. William24,801
  16. Jonathan22,593
  17. Eric20,715
  18. Andrew20,234
  19. Brandon20,205
  20. Adam20,042
  21. Nicholas19,777
  22. Jeremy19,111
  23. Anthony18,574
  24. Timothy18,228
  25. Kevin17,456
  26. Thomas17,160
  27. Richard16,855
  28. Steven16,484
  29. Jeffrey15,932
  30. Aaron14,692
  31. Charles14,428
  32. Benjamin14,361
  33. Mark13,544
  34. Scott12,721
  35. Paul11,778
  36. Nathan11,258
  37. Jesse10,444
  38. Patrick10,384
  39. Stephen10,302
  40. Travis10,109
  41. Kenneth9,473
  42. Dustin9,353
  43. Jacob9,345
  44. Sean8,892
  45. Jose8,773
  46. Gregory8,758
  47. Chad8,413
  48. Bryan7,215
  49. Shawn7,076
  50. Bradley6,896
  51. Edward6,661
  52. Kyle6,571
  53. Derek6,481
  54. Samuel6,037
  55. Peter5,999
  56. Donald5,911
  57. Jared5,865
  58. Keith5,621
  59. Ronald5,538
  60. Juan5,500
  61. George5,159
  62. Gary4,947
  63. Zachary4,846
  64. Douglas4,788
  65. Joel4,540
  66. Phillip4,539
  67. Marcus4,509
  68. Raymond4,367
  69. Corey4,247
  70. Alexander4,236
  71. Carlos4,182
  72. Craig4,095
  73. Larry3,954
  74. Todd3,953
  75. Antonio3,926
  76. Erik3,922
  77. Jeremiah3,896
  78. Derrick3,850
  79. Brett3,775
  80. Nathaniel3,719
  81. Shane3,711
  82. Frank3,640
  83. Dennis3,634
  84. Philip3,581
  85. Casey3,518
  86. Shaun3,383
  87. Gabriel3,373
  88. Lucas3,372
  89. Brent3,370
  90. Cory3,355
  91. Luis3,343
  92. Randy3,343
  93. Jeffery3,335
  94. Curtis3,198
  95. Seth3,137
  96. Tylernew3,117
  97. Jerry3,056
  98. Russell3,048
  99. Wesley3,042
  100. Luke3,015

1981 in numbers

The Social Security data for 1981 holds 1,668,058 girls under 12,195 different names. The ten most common names covered 17% of them — in 2024 the figure is 7.1%. New to the top 100 that year:Latoya, Diana, Victoria, Renee, Theresa. Leaving it:Melinda, Monique, Tammy, Tonya, Gina.

The Social Security data for 1981 holds 1,791,317 boys under 7,289 different names. The ten most common names covered 24% of them — in 2024 the figure is 8.0%. New to the top 100 that year:Tyler. Leaving it:Billy.