Popular names of 1981, and how old they are now

People born in 1981 turn 45 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 3.5 million births in 1981 under names it lists, and by our estimate about 94% of them are still alive: about 3.3 million people.

The year's top names were Jennifer for girls and Michael for boys. Babies born that year are Millennials (see Millennial names).

12 names on AgeByName had their busiest year ever in 1981: Rebecca, Andrea, Sara, Jesse, Kristin, Brandy, Brandi, Clinton, Dusty, Tiffani, Rodolfo and Dara.

Top girl names of 1981

Most popular girl names of 1981
#	Name	Born 1981	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Jennifer	57,046	55,000	46
2	Jessica	42,531	41,000	38
3	Amanda	34,372	33,000	39
4	Sarah	28,175	27,000	39
5	Melissa	28,005	27,000	46
6	Amy	20,345	20,000	47
7	Nicole	20,310	19,000	39
8	Stephanie	20,212	19,000	43
9	Elizabeth	20,168	19,000	44
10	Heather	17,946	17,000	45
11	Michelle	17,781	17,000	48
12	Rebecca	16,737	16,000	48
13	Kimberly	16,689	16,000	48
14	Tiffany	16,416	16,000	40
15	Angela	15,924	15,000	49
16	Crystal	15,888	15,000	43
17	Christina	14,392	14,000	44
18	Lisa	14,294	14,000	56
19	Erin	13,853	13,000	39
20	Amber	13,814	13,000	37
21	Laura	13,292	13,000	51
22	Rachel	12,590	12,000	38
23	Kelly	11,873	11,000	48
24	Andrea	11,686	11,000	42
25	April	11,406	11,000	45
26	Sara	11,359	11,000	40
27	Mary	11,042	11,000	66
28	Jamie	10,982	11,000	43
29	Emily	10,799	10,000	29
30	Danielle	10,038	9,600	38
31	Kristin	9,737	9,300	45
32	Shannon	9,226	8,900	46
33	Megan	8,964	8,600	35
34	Ashley	8,874	8,500	33
35	Lauren	8,813	8,500	33
36	Erica	8,626	8,300	40
37	Julie	8,567	8,200	55
38	Kristen	8,540	8,200	41
39	Katherine	8,433	8,100	43
40	Maria	7,681	7,400	45
41	Brandy	6,898	6,600	43
42	Christine	6,854	6,600	57
43	Courtney	6,636	6,400	36
44	Katie	6,600	6,300	37
45	Tara	6,366	6,100	44
46	Alicia	5,855	5,600	41
47	Lindsay	5,843	5,600	38
48	Kathryn	5,823	5,600	51
49	Monica	5,782	5,500	46
50	Brandi	5,527	5,300	41

Top boy names of 1981

Most popular boy names of 1981
#	Name	Born 1981	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Michael	68,750	64,000	49
2	Christopher	50,221	47,000	41
3	Matthew	43,330	40,000	36
4	Jason	41,927	39,000	42
5	David	40,629	38,000	52
6	Joshua	39,024	36,000	33
7	James	38,283	36,000	54
8	John	34,868	32,000	55
9	Robert	34,395	32,000	58
10	Daniel	30,985	29,000	42
11	Joseph	30,761	29,000	45
12	Justin	27,307	25,000	34
13	Ryan	26,811	25,000	33
14	Brian	26,583	25,000	48
15	William	24,798	23,000	51
16	Jonathan	22,588	21,000	35
17	Eric	20,712	19,000	44
18	Andrew	20,232	19,000	36
19	Brandon	20,206	19,000	33
20	Adam	20,044	19,000	35
21	Nicholas	19,775	18,000	33
22	Jeremy	19,113	18,000	39
23	Anthony	18,569	17,000	40
24	Timothy	18,228	17,000	50
25	Kevin	17,454	16,000	45
26	Thomas	17,159	16,000	53
27	Richard	16,855	16,000	60
28	Steven	16,482	15,000	52
29	Jeffrey	15,931	15,000	53
30	Aaron	14,694	14,000	34
31	Charles	14,427	13,000	54
32	Benjamin	14,360	13,000	30
33	Mark	13,542	13,000	56
34	Scott	12,719	12,000	53
35	Paul	11,776	11,000	57
36	Nathan	11,256	10,000	30
37	Jesse	10,443	9,700	39
38	Patrick	10,384	9,600	47
39	Stephen	10,302	9,600	54
40	Travis	10,109	9,400	39
41	Kenneth	9,472	8,800	57
42	Dustin	9,350	8,700	37
43	Jacob	9,342	8,700	26
44	Sean	8,893	8,300	38
45	Jose	8,773	8,100	34
46	Gregory	8,756	8,100	54
47	Chad	8,412	7,800	45
48	Bryan	7,215	6,700	39
49	Shawn	7,076	6,600	45
50	Bradley	6,895	6,400	42

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 1981, from Social Security's records. “Alive today” estimates how many of them are still living, using SSA's cohort life tables for people born in 1981. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 1981 babies. How we calculate this