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45 years ago

Baby Names from 1981

3,459,375 registered births | 1,791,317 boys | 1,668,058 girls

← 1980 1980s Overview 1982 →
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Top 10 Baby Names of 1981

Top 10 Boy Names

1 Michael
68,759 births
2 Christopher
50,221 births
3 Matthew
43,328 births
4 Jason
41,928 births
5 David
40,633 births
6 Joshua
39,027 births
7 James
38,289 births
8 John
34,872 births
9 Robert
34,397 births
10 Daniel
30,989 births

Top 10 Girl Names

1 Jennifer
57,048 births
2 Jessica
42,532 births
3 Amanda
34,373 births
4 Sarah
28,174 births
5 Melissa
28,005 births
6 Amy
20,344 births
7 Nicole
20,311 births
8 Stephanie
20,213 births
9 Elizabeth
20,169 births
10 Heather
17,946 births
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Top Unisex Names of 1981

Jamie
2,356 boys 10,982 girls
Shannon
1,205 boys 9,227 girls
Courtney
736 boys 6,638 girls
Casey
3,518 boys 2,420 girls
Leslie
499 boys 4,934 girls

Names used for both boys and girls with at least 10% minority-gender share.

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Notable Risers & Fallers in 1981

Names that jumped or dropped 50+ spots in the rankings compared to the previous year.

Biggest Risers

G Krystal
#220 → #131 (+89)
G Lacey
#277 → #194 (+83)
G Morgan
#244 → #162 (+82)
B Blake
#237 → #159 (+78)
B Noah
#241 → #180 (+61)
B Caleb
#235 → #175 (+60)
B Jordan
#160 → #102 (+58)
G Latoya
#123 → #69 (+54)
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New to the Top 200 in 1981

Names appearing in the top 200 for the first time ever.

Krystal #131 Blake #159 Morgan #162 Alexis #172 Caleb #175 Cameron #189 Jasmine #191 Lacey #194 Jenna #196
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