Baby Names of the 1970s and 1980s
American Popular Name Trends From the Seventies and Eighties
May 21, 2007
In the 1970s and 1980s, Americans expanded their name choices. While the baby names of the 1950s and 1960s reflected less variety and more conformity, the names of the seventies and eighties were more diverse. This trend continued during the 1990s and 2000s.
Another difference was that name trends started coming and going more quickly. Names such as Jennifer, Amy, Ashley, and Jason leaped up the charts seemingly out of nowhere. Name trends moved especially quickly in the 1980s, which was perhaps not surprising in an era of ever changing fashion tends and eccentric pop music.
Here are the names that were most popular in the 1970s and 1980s, along with a discussion of the naming trends of these decades.
Top Girl's Names of the 1970s-- Jennifer, Amy, Melissa, Michelle, Kimberly, Lisa, Angela, Heather, Stephanie, Nicole
Top Girl's Names of the 1980s-- Jessica, Jennifer, Amanda, Ashley, Sarah, Stephanie, Melissa, Nicole, Elizabeth, Heather
Top Boy's Names from the 1970s-- Michael, Christopher, Jason, David, James, John, Robert, Brian, William, Matthew
Top Boy's Names from the 1980s-- Michael, Christopher, Matthew, Joshua, David, James, Daniel, Robert, John, Joseph
(Source: Social Security Administration)
Baby Name Trends for Girls:
- The 1970s was the decade of Jennifer. This was the name of the beloved protagonist in the 1970 hit movie Love Story. Jennifer is still moderately popular (#51 in 2006) but was so overused in the 1970s that it is falling quickly. It seemed doomed to become dated, along with the trendy 1950s name Linda that no one uses anymore. By the 1980s, Jessica had dethroned Jennifer at the #1 spot.
- The trendy name of the 1980s was Ashley, a former boy's name and the name of a popular character on The Young and the Restless. Along with Ashley came a crop of "soap opera" style names that reflected the yuppie materialism of the day. Classrooms filled up with Brittanys, Courtneys, and Whitneys.
- Girl name trends changed very quickly. In the 1970s. Names that suddenly skyrocketed were Jennifer, Amy, Melissa, Heather, Stephanie, Kelly, Amanda, and Tiffany. In the 1980s, Ashley, Sarah, Lindsay, and Megan came into vogue.
- Irish names became popular in the 1970s, especially Heather, Kelly, Heather, and Shannon. French names, such as Nicole and Stephanie, also were favored.
- Old Testament names became popular again, starting a trend that would continue into the 2000s. In the 1980s, Sarah was #5, Rachel was #16, and Rebecca was #22. However, after overuse during the Baby Boomer years, Deborah fell out of vogue.
Baby Name Trends for Boys:
- Boys didn't get as many trendy names as girls, but they did get their share. Jason reigned in the 1970s, where it rose out of nowhere to become the #3 name. Jason's descent was similar to Jennifer's; it fell to #11 in the 1980s and all the way to #55 in 2006. Trendy newcomers of the 1980s included Justin, Ryan, Brandon, Kyle, and Tyler. Two traditional names that rose to the top 10 were Matthew and Christopher.
- Traditional names for boys still ruled the charts. Michael remained #1, and James, John, Robert, and David remained very popular.
- Old Testament names for boys became much more common-- a trend that continued into the1990s and 2000s. Joshua rose quickly to #4 in the 1980s. Along with the ever popular David and Daniel, other common choices included Benjamin, Adam, Joseph, and Jacob (which skyrocketed to the top 10 in the 1990s).
- Irish names were popular for boys as well, especially Kevin, Keith, Sean, and Patrick.
