Popular names of 1986, and how old they are now

People born in 1986 turn 40 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 3.6 million births in 1986 under names it lists, and by our estimate about 96% 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 1986: Amber, Erica, Whitney, Katie, Brett, Mallory, Felicia, Krista, Alison, Christa, Sade and Dane.

Top girl names of 1986

Most popular girl names of 1986
#	Name	Born 1986	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Jessica	52,682	51,000	38
2	Ashley	49,671	48,000	33
3	Amanda	40,532	39,000	39
4	Jennifer	36,187	35,000	46
5	Sarah	28,163	27,000	39
6	Stephanie	22,651	22,000	43
7	Nicole	21,292	21,000	39
8	Brittany	20,313	20,000	35
9	Heather	19,790	19,000	45
10	Elizabeth	19,074	18,000	44
11	Megan	18,590	18,000	35
12	Melissa	17,667	17,000	46
13	Amber	16,954	16,000	37
14	Lauren	16,684	16,000	33
15	Rachel	15,455	15,000	38
16	Danielle	14,942	14,000	38
17	Tiffany	14,483	14,000	40
18	Kimberly	14,420	14,000	48
19	Christina	14,384	14,000	44
20	Laura	14,172	14,000	51
21	Samantha	14,092	14,000	30
22	Amy	13,452	13,000	47
23	Michelle	13,303	13,000	48
24	Emily	13,236	13,000	29
25	Crystal	12,689	12,000	43
26	Rebecca	11,793	11,000	48
27	Sara	11,052	11,000	40
28	Katherine	10,570	10,000	43
29	Kelly	10,411	10,000	48
30	Erin	10,068	9,800	39
31	Erica	9,973	9,700	40
32	Whitney	9,536	9,200	36
33	Angela	9,267	9,000	49
34	Jamie	9,234	8,900	43
35	Courtney	9,122	8,800	36
36	Andrea	8,639	8,400	42
37	Mary	8,507	8,200	66
38	Katie	8,333	8,100	37
39	Lindsey	8,051	7,800	36
40	Lisa	7,907	7,700	56
41	Kristen	7,844	7,600	41
42	Allison	7,575	7,300	31
43	Vanessa	7,469	7,200	37
44	Shannon	7,403	7,200	46
45	Alicia	7,017	6,800	41
46	Lindsay	6,952	6,700	38
47	Christine	6,917	6,700	57
48	Kathryn	6,393	6,200	51
49	Maria	6,142	6,000	45
50	Kristin	6,000	5,800	45

Top boy names of 1986

Most popular boy names of 1986
#	Name	Born 1986	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Michael	64,235	61,000	49
2	Christopher	56,693	53,000	41
3	Matthew	46,929	44,000	36
4	Joshua	37,542	35,000	33
5	David	37,150	35,000	52
6	Daniel	36,573	34,000	42
7	James	34,057	32,000	54
8	Andrew	33,858	32,000	36
9	Robert	31,350	30,000	58
10	John	30,209	28,000	55
11	Ryan	29,524	28,000	33
12	Joseph	28,834	27,000	45
13	Brandon	27,254	26,000	33
14	Justin	26,638	25,000	34
15	William	24,333	23,000	51
16	Jonathan	23,973	23,000	35
17	Nicholas	22,800	22,000	33
18	Jason	22,415	21,000	42
19	Anthony	21,956	21,000	40
20	Brian	21,027	20,000	48
21	Kevin	19,935	19,000	45
22	Eric	19,528	18,000	44
23	Kyle	19,315	18,000	34
24	Adam	18,157	17,000	35
25	Steven	18,099	17,000	52
26	Thomas	17,362	16,000	53
27	Timothy	16,875	16,000	50
28	Jeremy	16,269	15,000	39
29	Richard	15,014	14,000	60
30	Benjamin	13,793	13,000	30
31	Jacob	13,652	13,000	26
32	Jeffrey	13,651	13,000	53
33	Aaron	12,692	12,000	34
34	Charles	12,625	12,000	54
35	Mark	12,615	12,000	56
36	Stephen	11,877	11,000	54
37	Sean	11,784	11,000	38
38	Zachary	11,725	11,000	29
39	Patrick	11,410	11,000	47
40	Tyler	10,912	10,000	28
41	Alexander	10,609	10,000	26
42	Dustin	10,317	9,700	37
43	Nathan	9,996	9,400	30
44	Scott	9,965	9,400	53
45	Paul	9,715	9,200	57
46	Gregory	9,529	9,000	54
47	Bryan	8,651	8,200	39
48	Jesse	8,542	8,100	39
49	Travis	8,480	8,000	39
50	Kenneth	8,453	8,000	57

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 1986, 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 1986. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 1986 babies. How we calculate this