Born in 1979 · Gen X
Baby names of 1979
The Social Security name files, which cover every name given to at least 5 babies, list 3,326,804 babies born in 1979: 1,605,268 girls and 1,721,536 boys. Jennifer and Michael were the most popular names, and 20.7% of all babies got a top-10 name, down from 22.0% in 1969. The name most tied to 1979 is Lakisha: among girls, it was 14× as common that year as in the decades around it.
Quick facts
- Generation
- Gen X
- Born 1965–1980
- Babies on record
- 3,326,804
- 1,605,268 girls · 1,721,536 boys
- Different names
- 11,972
- for girls, plus 7,071 for boys (5+ babies each)
- Top-10 names
- 20.7%
- of babies got one · girls 17.0%, boys 24.1%
Top 10 names of 1979
- Jennifer was the #1 name for girls every year from 1970 to 1984.
- Michael was the #1 name for boys every year from 1961 to 1998.
How many babies got a top-10 name?
In 1979, 20.7% of babies were given one of that year's 10 most popular names. Across all years, that share fell from 29.0% in 1935 to 7.5% in 2025.
Names that sound like 1979
These names were far more common in 1979 than in the decades around it: the multiplier compares each name's share of 1979 babies with its average share 6–25 years before and after.
| Name | Sex | Rank | Vs. nearby |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lakisha | Girl | #244 | 14× |
| Mandy | Girl | #116 | 9.5× |
| Tameka | Girl | #281 | 9.1× |
| Jaime | Girl | #97 | 8.8× |
| Misty | Girl | #42 | 8.4× |
| Tamika | Girl | #187 | 8.1× |
| Mindy | Girl | #81 | 7.8× |
| Brandy | Girl | #39 | 7.0× |
| Shaun | Boy | #64 | 6.6× |
| Lakeisha | Girl | #291 | 6.6× |
Names that peaked in 1979
Each of these reached its highest share of US babies in 1979, the high point in records going back to 1880. Rank is for 1979.
| Name | Sex | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Melissa | Girl | #2 |
| Travis | Boy | #36 |
| Mindy | Girl | #81 |
| Alison | Girl | #102 |
| Nichole | Girl | #103 |
| Jaclyn | Girl | #124 |
| Trisha | Girl | #159 |
| Brianne | Girl | #168 |
| Shauna | Girl | #189 |
| Terrance | Boy | #179 |
New to the top 1,000 in 1979
Names that made the national top 1,000 for the first time in 1979 (records go back to 1880).
Girls
- Viviana419 babies
- Breanne357 babies
- Siobhan277 babies
- Maren226 babies
- Kylene205 babies
- Breanna196 babies
- Ashanti175 babies
- Asia167 babies
Boys
- Tyrell136 babies
- Mohammad110 babies
- Bryson107 babies
- Tyrel93 babies
- Jarrad87 babies
- Kai87 babies
- Rustin87 babies
- Mohammed86 babies
Where are they now?
Top-100 names of 1979 that have since dropped out of the top 1,000. Ranks are for 1979 and 2025.
Girls
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data