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The most popular baby names of 1986

SSA recorded 3,557,062 births in 1986 across all reported names — 1,715,547 girls and 1,841,515 boys.

Top 100 girls' names in 1986

Rank, births, and the change in rank against 1985.
#NameBirthsvs 1985
1 Jessica 52,682 —
2 Ashley 49,671 —
3 Amanda 40,532 +1
4 Jennifer 36,187 -1
5 Sarah 28,163 —
6 Stephanie 22,651 —
7 Nicole 21,292 —
8 Brittany 20,313 +9
9 Heather 19,790 -1
10 Elizabeth 19,074 -1
11 Megan 18,590 -1
12 Melissa 17,667 -1
13 Amber 16,954 +3
14 Lauren 16,684 +1
15 Rachel 15,455 -2
16 Danielle 14,942 +2
17 Tiffany 14,483 +6
18 Kimberly 14,420 +1
19 Christina 14,384 -7
20 Laura 14,172 -6
21 Samantha 14,092 +8
22 Amy 13,452 -2
23 Michelle 13,303 -1
24 Emily 13,236 —
25 Crystal 12,689 -4
26 Rebecca 11,793 -1
27 Sara 11,052 +3
28 Katherine 10,570 +4
29 Kelly 10,411 -1
30 Erin 10,068 -4
31 Erica 9,973 +3
32 Whitney 9,536 +41
33 Angela 9,267 -2
34 Jamie 9,234 -7
35 Courtney 9,122 +8
36 Andrea 8,639 -3
37 Mary 8,507 -2
38 Katie 8,333 +1
39 Lindsey 8,051 -2
40 Lisa 7,907 -4
41 Kristen 7,844 -3
42 Allison 7,575 +4
43 Vanessa 7,469 -1
44 Shannon 7,403 -3
45 Alicia 7,017 —
46 Lindsay 6,952 -6
47 Christine 6,917 -3
48 Kathryn 6,393 —
49 Maria 6,142 +3
50 Kristin 6,000 -1
51 Anna 5,908 +3
52 Natalie 5,707 +6
53 April 5,677 -6
54 Victoria 5,676 +5
55 Jenna 5,416 -5
56 Tara 5,085 -5
57 Jacqueline 5,036 +3
58 Julie 5,016 -3
59 Monica 5,013 +2
60 Cassandra 4,989 +2
61 Krystal 4,929 -8
62 Kristina 4,840 -5
63 Holly 4,838 -7
64 Kayla 4,657 +45
65 Brittney 4,593 +19
66 Patricia 4,246 -2
67 Catherine 4,242 -2
68 Kathleen 4,129 —
69 Caitlin 3,881 +8
70 Natasha 3,872 +9
71 Meghan 3,869 -8
72 Alexandra 3,808 +20
73 Chelsea 3,753 +2
74 Erika 3,678 +6
75 Diana 3,669 -1
76 Valerie 3,618 -5
77 Veronica 3,580 -5
78 Leah 3,457 —
79 Brandi 3,432 -10
80 Casey 3,423 +34
81 Cynthia 3,422 -15
82 Hannah 3,388 +35
83 Mallory 3,325 +60
84 Brandy 3,295 -14
85 Alyssa 3,225 +45
86 Leslie 3,224 -10
87 Stacy 3,220 -20
88 Julia 3,109 -3
89 Felicia 3,084 +12
89 Margaret 3,084 +1
91 Bethany 3,082 +3
92 Dana 3,076 -10
93 Krista 3,054 +41
94 Stacey 3,043 -5
95 Jasmine 2,993 +8
96 Alison 2,975 +1
97 Melanie 2,973 -9
98 Dominique 2,944 -15
99 Katrina 2,828 -6
100 Karen 2,801 -13

Top 100 boys' names in 1986

Rank, births, and the change in rank against 1985.
#NameBirthsvs 1985
1 Michael 64,235 —
2 Christopher 56,693 —
3 Matthew 46,929 —
4 Joshua 37,542 —
5 David 37,150 +1
6 Daniel 36,573 -1
7 James 34,057 —
8 Andrew 33,858 +3
9 Robert 31,350 -1
10 John 30,209 -1
11 Ryan 29,524 +1
12 Joseph 28,834 -2
13 Brandon 27,254 —
14 Justin 26,638 +1
15 William 24,333 +1
16 Jonathan 23,973 +1
17 Nicholas 22,800 +2
18 Jason 22,415 -4
19 Anthony 21,956 +1
20 Brian 21,027 -2
21 Kevin 19,935 +2
22 Eric 19,528 -1
23 Kyle 19,315 +4
24 Adam 18,157 -2
25 Steven 18,099 -1
26 Thomas 17,362 -1
27 Timothy 16,875 -1
28 Jeremy 16,269 +2
29 Richard 15,014 -1
30 Benjamin 13,793 +1
31 Jacob 13,652 +4
32 Jeffrey 13,651 -3
33 Aaron 12,692 —
34 Charles 12,625 —
35 Mark 12,615 -3
36 Stephen 11,877 —
37 Sean 11,784 +1
38 Zachary 11,725 +1
39 Patrick 11,410 -2
40 Tyler 10,912 +3
41 Alexander 10,609 +9
42 Dustin 10,317 -1
43 Nathan 9,996 -3
44 Scott 9,965 —
45 Paul 9,715 -3
46 Gregory 9,529 -1
47 Bryan 8,651 +1
48 Jesse 8,542 +3
49 Travis 8,480 -3
50 Kenneth 8,453 -3
51 Jose 8,363 -2
52 Samuel 7,579 +2
53 Jordan 7,302 +9
54 Bradley 7,044 -1
55 Shawn 7,018 —
56 Cody 6,934 -4
57 Derek 6,900 -1
58 Jared 6,119 —
59 Chad 6,026 -2
60 Peter 5,797 —
61 Edward 5,777 -2
62 Corey 5,762 +1
63 Marcus 5,278 -2
64 Alex 5,111 +16
65 Juan 5,076 —
66 Keith 5,040 -2
67 Shane 4,929 +1
68 Cory 4,871 +13
69 Brett 4,729 +1
70 Phillip 4,705 -1
71 Donald 4,661 -5
72 Joel 4,507 -5
73 Antonio 4,406 —
74 George 4,348 -2
75 Ronald 4,224 -4
76 Carlos 4,090 -2
77 Raymond 4,055 -2
78 Nathaniel 4,032 -1
79 Luis 4,028 +6
80 Craig 3,926 -1
81 Evan 3,887 +10
82 Douglas 3,763 -6
83 Casey 3,762 +3
84 Gary 3,719 -2
85 Ian 3,713 -7
86 Philip 3,665 -2
87 Derrick 3,326 -4
88 Victor 3,293 —
89 Christian 3,214 +12
90 Austin 3,202 +17
91 Frank 3,178 -1
92 Erik 3,110 -5
93 Vincent 3,092 +2
94 Brent 3,061 -5
95 Gabriel 3,046 -3
96 Wesley 3,043 -2
97 Seth 2,980 +7
98 Trevor 2,978 +7
99 Adrian 2,943 -6
100 Curtis 2,910 -2

Names that climbed fastest in 1986

Ranked by places gained against 1985, among names with at least 200 births in both years.

NameRank 1986Rank 1985Change
Kayleigh girls 321 793 +472
Alexa girls 432 816 +384
Cristal girls 388 705 +317
Sade girls 213 513 +300
Kaylee girls 441 726 +285
Madison girls 366 624 +258
Madeline girls 290 523 +233
Ciera girls 479 701 +222
Brittni girls 587 789 +202
Stevie girls 591 781 +190
Bailey girls 430 612 +182
Paris girls 630 806 +176
Talia girls 580 755 +175
Keshia girls 426 596 +170
Christa girls 178 343 +165

Names that fell fastest in 1986

NameRank 1986Rank 1985Change
Krystina girls 722 545 -177
Jody girls 595 446 -149
Shari girls 557 426 -131
Penny girls 800 670 -130
Cathy girls 670 548 -122
Dayna girls 696 577 -119
Dena girls 670 552 -118
Shawn girls 710 596 -114
Doris girls 792 681 -111
Becky girls 536 427 -109
Tosha girls 707 598 -109
Ladonna girls 758 649 -109
Christal girls 797 690 -107
Jeanne girls 749 643 -106
Meghann girls 792 686 -106

Names that first appear in 1986

1986 is the earliest year these names clear the SSA reporting threshold of five births.

Names that peaked in 1986

For these names, 1986 is the single biggest year in the whole 1880–2025 record.