Popular Names of 1979

The 20 most popular names given to female and to male babies born in 1979, as recorded, with each name’s rank in 2025.

Table 1. Female names, 1979
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	Jennifer	56,712	586
2	Melissa	34,050	420
3	Amanda	31,924	493
4	Jessica	27,780	665
5	Amy	21,609	257
6	Sarah	21,015	90
7	Heather	20,834	1,264
8	Angela	20,256	408
9	Nicole	19,510	383
10	Michelle	19,266	465
11	Elizabeth	18,073	17
12	Kimberly	17,635	303
13	Lisa	17,286	991
14	Christina	16,454	770
15	Stephanie	16,204	557
16	Kelly	15,296	852
17	Rebecca	14,548	350
18	Crystal	13,467	1,145
19	Jamie	12,156	858
20	Laura	11,880	379

Table 2. Male names, 1979
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	Michael	67,713	21
2	Christopher	50,659	68
3	Jason	50,369	165
4	David	42,053	35
5	James	39,351	6
6	Matthew	35,621	32
7	John	35,410	23
8	Robert	34,015	92
9	Joshua	31,120	66
10	Brian	28,659	339
11	Joseph	28,654	29
12	Daniel	28,521	22
13	William	24,676	9
14	Ryan	23,212	99
15	Nicholas	21,344	112
16	Jeremy	21,005	292
17	Eric	20,268	273
18	Timothy	19,077	203
19	Kevin	18,733	221
20	Andrew	18,618	73

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As recorded on the Social Security card application. Names given to fewer than five babies of a sex in a year are not published, so the file is a floor.