Years · 1980s · Evolution

Top baby names of 1986

In 1986, Jessica and Michael were the most popular names in the United States. 3,556,693 births in the Social Security records that year.

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Most popular girl names in 1986
Rank	Name	Births	Share	Change
1	Jessica	52,682	1 in 70	= same rank
2	Ashley	49,671	1 in 70	= same rank
3	Amanda	40,532	1 in 90	1 places up
4	Jennifer	36,187	1 in 100	1 places down
5	Sarah	28,163	1 in 126	= same rank
6	Stephanie	22,651	1 in 157	= same rank
7	Nicole	21,292	1 in 167	= same rank
8	Brittany	20,313	1 in 175	9 places up
9	Heather	19,790	1 in 180	1 places down
10	Elizabeth	19,074	1 in 186	1 places down
11	Megan	18,590	1 in 191	1 places down
12	Melissa	17,667	1 in 201	1 places down
13	Amber	16,954	1 in 210	3 places up
14	Lauren	16,684	1 in 213	1 places up
15	Rachel	15,455	1 in 230	2 places down
16	Danielle	14,942	1 in 238	2 places up
17	Tiffany	14,483	1 in 246	6 places up
18	Kimberly	14,420	1 in 247	1 places up
19	Christina	14,384	1 in 247	7 places down
20	Laura	14,172	1 in 251	6 places down
21	Samantha	14,092	1 in 252	8 places up
22	Amy	13,452	1 in 264	2 places down
23	Michelle	13,303	1 in 267	1 places down
24	Emily	13,236	1 in 269	= same rank
25	Crystal	12,689	1 in 280	4 places down
26	Rebecca	11,793	1 in 302	1 places down
27	Sara	11,052	1 in 322	3 places up
28	Katherine	10,570	1 in 336	4 places up
29	Kelly	10,411	1 in 342	1 places down
30	Erin	10,068	1 in 353	4 places down
31	Erica	9,973	1 in 357	3 places up
32	Whitney	9,536	1 in 373	41 places up
33	Angela	9,267	1 in 384	2 places down
34	Jamie	9,234	1 in 385	7 places down
35	Courtney	9,122	1 in 390	8 places up
36	Andrea	8,639	1 in 412	3 places down
37	Mary	8,507	1 in 418	2 places down
38	Katie	8,333	1 in 427	1 places up
39	Lindsey	8,051	1 in 442	2 places down
40	Lisa	7,907	1 in 450	4 places down
41	Kristen	7,844	1 in 453	3 places down
42	Allison	7,575	1 in 470	4 places up
43	Vanessa	7,469	1 in 476	1 places down
44	Shannon	7,403	1 in 480	3 places down
45	Alicia	7,017	1 in 507	= same rank
46	Lindsay	6,952	1 in 512	6 places down
47	Christine	6,917	1 in 514	3 places down
48	Kathryn	6,393	1 in 556	= same rank
49	Maria	6,142	1 in 579	3 places up
50	Kristin	6,000	1 in 593	1 places down

Most popular boy names in 1986
Rank	Name	Births	Share	Change
1	Michael	64,235	1 in 60	= same rank
2	Christopher	56,693	1 in 60	= same rank
3	Matthew	46,929	1 in 80	= same rank
4	Joshua	37,542	1 in 90	= same rank
5	David	37,150	1 in 100	1 places up
6	Daniel	36,573	1 in 100	1 places down
7	James	34,057	1 in 104	= same rank
8	Andrew	33,858	1 in 105	3 places up
9	Robert	31,350	1 in 113	1 places down
10	John	30,209	1 in 118	1 places down
11	Ryan	29,524	1 in 120	1 places up
12	Joseph	28,834	1 in 123	2 places down
13	Brandon	27,254	1 in 131	= same rank
14	Justin	26,638	1 in 134	1 places up
15	William	24,333	1 in 146	1 places up
16	Jonathan	23,973	1 in 148	1 places up
17	Nicholas	22,800	1 in 156	2 places up
18	Jason	22,415	1 in 159	4 places down
19	Anthony	21,956	1 in 162	1 places up
20	Brian	21,027	1 in 169	2 places down
21	Kevin	19,935	1 in 178	2 places up
22	Eric	19,528	1 in 182	1 places down
23	Kyle	19,315	1 in 184	4 places up
24	Adam	18,157	1 in 196	2 places down
25	Steven	18,099	1 in 197	1 places down
26	Thomas	17,362	1 in 205	1 places down
27	Timothy	16,875	1 in 211	1 places down
28	Jeremy	16,269	1 in 219	2 places up
29	Richard	15,014	1 in 237	1 places down
30	Benjamin	13,793	1 in 258	1 places up
31	Jacob	13,652	1 in 261	4 places up
32	Jeffrey	13,651	1 in 261	3 places down
33	Aaron	12,692	1 in 280	= same rank
34	Charles	12,625	1 in 282	= same rank
35	Mark	12,615	1 in 282	3 places down
36	Stephen	11,877	1 in 299	= same rank
37	Sean	11,784	1 in 302	1 places up
38	Zachary	11,725	1 in 303	1 places up
39	Patrick	11,410	1 in 312	2 places down
40	Tyler	10,912	1 in 326	3 places up
41	Alexander	10,609	1 in 335	9 places up
42	Dustin	10,317	1 in 345	1 places down
43	Nathan	9,996	1 in 356	3 places down
44	Scott	9,965	1 in 357	= same rank
45	Paul	9,715	1 in 366	3 places down
46	Gregory	9,529	1 in 373	1 places down
47	Bryan	8,651	1 in 411	1 places up
48	Jesse	8,542	1 in 416	3 places up
49	Travis	8,480	1 in 419	3 places down
50	Kenneth	8,453	1 in 421	3 places down

Share: number of babies born in 1986, girls and boys together, for one baby with this name. Change: places gained or lost since 1985. Tied names share the same rank.