United States · 1981
Baby names of 1981
Jennifer and Michael topped 1981.
Top girls' names of 1981
| # | Name | Births |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jennifer | 57,046 |
| 2 | Jessica | 42,531 |
| 3 | Amanda | 34,372 |
| 4 | Sarah | 28,175 |
| 5 | Melissa | 28,005 |
| 6 | Amy | 20,345 |
| 7 | Nicole | 20,310 |
| 8 | Stephanie | 20,212 |
| 9 | Elizabeth | 20,168 |
| 10 | Heather | 17,946 |
| 11 | Michelle | 17,781 |
| 12 | Rebecca | 16,737 |
| 13 | Kimberly | 16,689 |
| 14 | Tiffany | 16,416 |
| 15 | Angela | 15,924 |
| 16 | Crystal | 15,888 |
| 17 | Christina | 14,392 |
| 18 | Lisa | 14,294 |
| 19 | Erin | 13,853 |
| 20 | Amber | 13,814 |
| 21 | Laura | 13,292 |
| 22 | Rachel | 12,590 |
| 23 | Kelly | 11,873 |
| 24 | Andrea | 11,686 |
| 25 | April | 11,406 |
| 26 | Sara | 11,359 |
| 27 | Mary | 11,042 |
| 28 | Jamie | 10,982 |
| 29 | Emily | 10,799 |
| 30 | Danielle | 10,038 |
| 31 | Kristin | 9,737 |
| 32 | Shannon | 9,226 |
| 33 | Megan | 8,964 |
| 34 | Ashley | 8,874 |
| 35 | Lauren | 8,813 |
| 36 | Erica | 8,626 |
| 37 | Julie | 8,567 |
| 38 | Kristen | 8,540 |
| 39 | Katherine | 8,433 |
| 40 | Maria | 7,681 |
| 41 | Brandy | 6,898 |
| 42 | Christine | 6,854 |
| 43 | Courtney | 6,636 |
| 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 |
Top boys' names of 1981
| # | Name | Births |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael | 68,750 |
| 2 | Christopher | 50,221 |
| 3 | Matthew | 43,330 |
| 4 | Jason | 41,927 |
| 5 | David | 40,629 |
| 6 | Joshua | 39,024 |
| 7 | James | 38,283 |
| 8 | John | 34,868 |
| 9 | Robert | 34,395 |
| 10 | Daniel | 30,985 |
| 11 | Joseph | 30,761 |
| 12 | Justin | 27,307 |
| 13 | Ryan | 26,811 |
| 14 | Brian | 26,583 |
| 15 | William | 24,798 |
| 16 | Jonathan | 22,588 |
| 17 | Eric | 20,712 |
| 18 | Andrew | 20,232 |
| 19 | Brandon | 20,206 |
| 20 | Adam | 20,044 |
| 21 | Nicholas | 19,775 |
| 22 | Jeremy | 19,113 |
| 23 | Anthony | 18,569 |
| 24 | Timothy | 18,228 |
| 25 | Kevin | 17,454 |
| 26 | Thomas | 17,159 |
| 27 | Richard | 16,855 |
| 28 | Steven | 16,482 |
| 29 | Jeffrey | 15,931 |
| 30 | Aaron | 14,694 |
| 31 | Charles | 14,427 |
| 32 | Benjamin | 14,360 |
| 33 | Mark | 13,542 |
| 34 | Scott | 12,719 |
| 35 | Paul | 11,776 |
| 36 | Nathan | 11,256 |
| 37 | Jesse | 10,443 |
| 38 | Patrick | 10,384 |
| 39 | Stephen | 10,302 |
| 40 | Travis | 10,109 |
| 41 | Kenneth | 9,472 |
| 42 | Dustin | 9,350 |
| 43 | Jacob | 9,342 |
| 44 | Sean | 8,893 |
| 45 | Jose | 8,773 |
| 46 | Gregory | 8,756 |
| 47 | Chad | 8,412 |
| 48 | Bryan | 7,215 |
| 49 | Shawn | 7,076 |
| 50 | Bradley | 6,895 |
SOURCE·US Social Security Administration, national baby-name data·Public domain. SSA lists a name only if it was given to at least 5 babies of that sex that year.·REVIEWED JUL 2026
SOURCE·US SSA (1880–2025) + NZ DIA (1900–2025) birth registrations·ranks and shares computed from the source files, see method·REVIEWED JUL 2026