Popular names of 1985, and how old they are now

People born in 1985 turn 41 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 3.6 million births in 1985 under names it lists, and by our estimate about 95% of them are still alive: about 3.4 million people.

The year's top names were Jessica 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 1985: Daniel, Ryan, Nicole, Christina, Rachel, Dustin, Bryan, Vanessa, Jenna, Krystal, Kristina and Meghan.

Top girl names of 1985

Most popular girl names of 1985
#	Name	Born 1985	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Jessica	48,345	47,000	38
2	Ashley	47,010	45,000	33
3	Jennifer	42,661	41,000	46
4	Amanda	39,055	38,000	39
5	Sarah	24,879	24,000	39
6	Stephanie	23,243	22,000	43
7	Nicole	22,966	22,000	39
8	Heather	21,151	20,000	45
9	Elizabeth	20,545	20,000	44
10	Megan	20,013	19,000	35
11	Melissa	19,963	19,000	46
12	Christina	16,600	16,000	44
13	Rachel	16,360	16,000	38
14	Laura	16,002	15,000	51
15	Lauren	15,768	15,000	33
16	Amber	15,506	15,000	37
17	Brittany	15,437	15,000	35
18	Danielle	15,417	15,000	38
19	Kimberly	14,914	14,000	48
20	Amy	14,429	14,000	47
21	Crystal	14,399	14,000	43
22	Michelle	13,973	14,000	48
23	Tiffany	13,681	13,000	40
24	Emily	13,144	13,000	29
25	Rebecca	12,705	12,000	48
26	Erin	11,384	11,000	39
27	Jamie	11,038	11,000	43
28	Kelly	11,031	11,000	48
29	Samantha	10,658	10,000	30
30	Sara	10,562	10,000	40
31	Angela	10,227	9,900	49
32	Katherine	10,128	9,800	43
33	Andrea	10,053	9,700	42
34	Erica	9,525	9,200	40
35	Mary	9,240	8,900	66
36	Lisa	9,012	8,700	56
37	Lindsey	8,468	8,200	36
38	Kristen	8,445	8,200	41
39	Katie	7,995	7,700	37
40	Lindsay	7,871	7,600	38
41	Shannon	7,714	7,500	46
42	Vanessa	7,563	7,300	37
43	Courtney	7,531	7,300	36
44	Christine	7,441	7,200	57
45	Alicia	7,122	6,900	41
46	Allison	7,028	6,800	31
47	April	6,691	6,500	45
48	Kathryn	6,634	6,400	51
49	Kristin	6,566	6,400	45
50	Jenna	6,436	6,200	29

Top boy names of 1985

Most popular boy names of 1985
#	Name	Born 1985	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Michael	64,934	61,000	49
2	Christopher	59,609	56,000	41
3	Matthew	47,075	44,000	36
4	Joshua	42,194	40,000	33
5	Daniel	38,559	36,000	42
6	David	38,522	36,000	52
7	James	35,862	34,000	54
8	Robert	32,094	30,000	58
9	John	31,502	30,000	55
10	Joseph	30,222	28,000	45
11	Andrew	30,178	28,000	36
12	Ryan	29,905	28,000	33
13	Brandon	29,304	28,000	33
14	Jason	26,039	24,000	42
15	Justin	25,537	24,000	34
16	William	24,606	23,000	51
17	Jonathan	24,116	23,000	35
18	Brian	23,069	22,000	48
19	Nicholas	22,384	21,000	33
20	Anthony	22,104	21,000	40
21	Eric	20,844	20,000	44
22	Adam	20,165	19,000	35
23	Kevin	18,814	18,000	45
24	Steven	18,726	18,000	52
25	Thomas	17,609	17,000	53
26	Timothy	17,140	16,000	50
27	Kyle	16,523	16,000	34
28	Richard	15,330	14,000	60
29	Jeffrey	14,500	14,000	53
30	Jeremy	13,445	13,000	39
31	Benjamin	13,423	13,000	30
32	Mark	13,194	12,000	56
33	Aaron	13,137	12,000	34
34	Charles	12,900	12,000	54
35	Jacob	12,284	12,000	26
36	Stephen	12,210	11,000	54
37	Patrick	11,638	11,000	47
38	Sean	11,455	11,000	38
39	Zachary	11,346	11,000	29
40	Nathan	10,653	10,000	30
41	Dustin	10,439	9,800	37
42	Paul	10,315	9,700	57
43	Tyler	10,211	9,600	28
44	Scott	10,145	9,500	53
45	Gregory	9,767	9,200	54
46	Travis	9,094	8,600	39
47	Kenneth	8,992	8,500	57
48	Bryan	8,717	8,200	39
49	Jose	8,403	7,900	34
50	Alexander	8,295	7,800	26

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 1985, 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 1985. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 1985 babies. How we calculate this