Which baby names were the most popular in the U.S. in 1986?
Which names saw the steepest rises in usage?
And which names debuted most impressively in the national dataset?
Below you’ll find the answers to all three of these questions, plus some of the other baby names that made gains in 1986. (In parentheses are my guesses about the outside factors influencing certain names.)
Top names
These were the most popular baby names overall in the U.S. in 1986:
| Girl names: Most popular | Boy names: Most popular |
| 1. Jessica | 1. Michael |
| 2. Ashley | 2. Christopher |
| 3. Amanda | 3. Matthew |
| 4. Jennifer | 4. Joshua |
| 5. Sarah | 5. David |
Rising names
These baby names saw the largest increases in usage from 1985 to 1986 in terms of number of babies:
| Girl names: Top absolute increases | Boy names: Top absolute increases |
| 1. Whitney (singer) | 1. Andrew |
| 2. Brittany | 2. Jeremy |
| 3. Jessica | 3. Kyle |
| 4. Samantha | 4. Alexander |
| 5. Sarah | 5. Jordan |
These baby names saw the largest increases in usage from 1985 to 1986 in terms of percentage of babies:
| Girl names: Top relative increases | Boy names: Top relative increases |
| 1. Kyrie (song) | 1. Orry (TV character) |
| 2. Sable (TV character) | 2. Cordale |
| 3. Bliss (TV character) | 3. Addison (TV character) |
| 4. Eliana (TV character) | 4. Kegan |
| 5. Jocelyne | 5. Paden (movie character) |
And here’s a selection of the other baby names that saw higher usage in 1986:
| Girl names: Other increases | Boy names: Other increases |
| Ashton (TV character) | Holden (TV character) |
| Brett (TV character) | Jamelle (football player) |
| Britta (TV character) | Jayce (TV character) |
| Christa (news: space exploration) | Miles (TV character; child actor/TV character) |
| Cristal (TV character) | Moshe (news: religion) |
| Farren (TV character) | Spencer (news: religion) |
| Halley (celestial event) | Wynton (musician) |
| Jeannette (actress) | Yaakov (news: religion) |
| Jerrica (TV character) | |
| Jordan (TV character) | |
| Maddie (TV character) | |
| Madeline (TV character) | |
| Nikita (song) | |
| Randall (TV character) | |
| Steffi (tennis player) | |
| Vanna (TV personality) | |
| Virgilia (TV character) |
Debut names
These were the names that debuted most impressively in the U.S. baby name data in 1986:
| Girl names: Top debuts | Boy names: Top debuts |
| 1. Myleka (TV contestant) | 1. Cordero (TV character) |
| 2. Chetara | 2. Cordaro |
| 3. Elyana | 3. Corderro |
| 4. Aasha | 4. Cordaryl |
| 5. Cayleigh [tie] | 5. Cordarryl |
| 6. Fiorela [tie] |
(Interestingly, the top five debuts on the boys’ side were all inspired by Cordero Roberts of One Life to Live!)
And here’s a selection of the other names that appeared for the first time in the U.S. baby name data in 1986:
| Girl names: Other debuts | Boy names: Other debuts |
| Martika (singer) | Marsalis (musician) |
| Oprah (TV personality) | Khambrel (TV personality) |
| Marlesa (beauty queen) | Kylor (basketball player) |
| Cymone (singer) | Jareth (movie character) |
| Ellesse (brand/advertisements) | Josimar (soccer player) |
| Calizza (product/advertisements) | Navarre (movie character) |
| Sabella (TV character) | Taimak (actor) |
| Generra (brand/advertisements) | Bocephus (song) |
| Lutece (product/advertisements) | Louden (movie character) |
| Mayuri (TV contestant) | Malcolmjamal (actor) |
| Jem (TV character) | |
| Raedawn (actress) | |
| Tchanavian (African-American magazine) |
If you want to check out another year on the timeline, here’s the baby name timeline main page.
Finally, a few reminders about the Social Security Administration’s baby name data:
- It only includes names given to at least five babies (of one gender or the other) per year.
- It does contain mistakes such as misspelled names, misgendered names, and placeholder names (e.g., “Babygirl”).
- It isn’t very accurate from 1880 to the mid-1930s. Why? Because the SSA was established in the mid-1930s, so the names in the dataset from 1880 to the mid-1930s are not the names of babies, but the names (or nicknames) of adults applying for social security numbers. More importantly, adults born during these decades who never applied for a number are simply not accounted for.
Data source: U.S. Social Security Administration