Popular baby names in California, 1980

The most popular baby names in California in 1980 were Jennifer for girls (5,612 babies) and Michael for boys (6,905). Social Security records list 365,972 babies born in California in 1980 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in California in 1980

Names given at least 15 times in California that year and at least twice as common as in the US as a whole.

Girls

Maira: 89 babies, 5.9× the national rate
Alejandra: 282 babies, 5.8× the national rate
Anabel: 99 babies, 5.8× the national rate
Mayra: 512 babies, 5.6× the national rate
Rocio: 188 babies, 5.5× the national rate
Susana: 239 babies, 5.3× the national rate
Silvia: 173 babies, 5.2× the national rate
Araceli: 187 babies, 5.1× the national rate
Maricela: 170 babies, 5× the national rate
Guadalupe: 300 babies, 4.9× the national rate

Boys

Salvador: 400 babies, 5.7× the national rate
Ignacio: 129 babies, 5.1× the national rate
Cesar: 420 babies, 4.7× the national rate
Hugo: 171 babies, 4.7× the national rate
Rigoberto: 108 babies, 4.7× the national rate
Sergio: 453 babies, 4.4× the national rate
Gerardo: 305 babies, 4.4× the national rate
Alejandro: 599 babies, 4.3× the national rate
Guillermo: 178 babies, 4.2× the national rate
Gustavo: 174 babies, 4.2× the national rate

Top 50 girls' and boys' names in California, 1980

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1979	US rank
1	Jennifer	5,612	–	1
2	Melissa	2,985	–	4
3	Jessica	2,928	–	3
4	Sarah	2,578	↑2	5
5	Michelle	2,431	↓1	10
6	Maria	2,246	↑1	36
7	Nicole	2,239	↓2	7
8	Elizabeth	2,213	↑1	9
9	Christina	2,090	↓1	15
10	Amanda	1,878	↑2	2
11	Stephanie	1,616	↑3	13
12	Lisa	1,614	↓2	16
13	Heather	1,583	↓2	6
14	Amber	1,492	↑3	22
15	Kimberly	1,464	–	11
16	Tiffany	1,402	↑19	14
17	Veronica	1,397	↑4	70
18	Rebecca	1,368	↑1	17
19	Laura	1,348	↑1	21
20	Angela	1,338	↓7	12
21	Amy	1,297	↓5	8
22	Erin	1,289	↑3	20
23	Sara	1,222	↑5	27
24	Monica	1,158	↓6	45
25	Crystal	1,094	↑1	18
26	Andrea	1,092	↓3	28
27	Kelly	1,062	↓5	19
28	Jamie	1,051	↓4	24
29	Vanessa	1,009	↑5	69
30	Erica	1,003	–	34
31	Rachel	997	↓2	23
32	Danielle	959	↑5	33
33	Shannon	923	↓6	29
34	Sandra	902	↑4	80
35	Megan	866	↑7	30
36	Patricia	853	↓3	51
37	Christine	850	↓6	41
38	April	846	↓2	26
39	Mary	833	–	25
40	Julie	827	↓8	32
41	Cynthia	787	↓1	64
42	Alicia	770	↓1	47
43	Katherine	742	–	35
44	Emily	719	–	31
45	Nancy	677	–	>100
46	Lauren	649	new	38
47	Kristin	625	new	37
48	Natalie	618	–	65
49	Erika	611	↓2	87
50	Monique	594	new	93

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1979	US rank
1	Michael	6,905	–	1
2	David	5,084	–	4
3	Christopher	4,783	–	2
4	Daniel	4,148	↑1	11
5	Jason	4,104	↓1	3
6	Robert	3,478	–	9
7	Matthew	3,379	↑1	6
8	Joshua	3,138	↑3	7
9	John	3,023	↓2	8
10	James	3,022	↓1	5
11	Ryan	2,991	↓1	15
12	Jose	2,974	–	46
13	Joseph	2,825	↑1	10
14	Brian	2,726	↓1	12
15	Justin	2,398	↑9	13
16	Eric	2,314	↓1	16
17	Richard	2,105	↑1	26
18	Anthony	2,100	↓1	24
19	Nicholas	2,087	↓3	17
20	Steven	1,872	↓1	28
21	Juan	1,765	↑2	59
22	Andrew	1,743	↑3	19
23	Jonathan	1,724	↑8	21
24	William	1,715	↓4	14
25	Kevin	1,639	↓4	23
26	Jeffrey	1,575	↓4	27
27	Adam	1,550	↓1	22
28	Timothy	1,451	↑1	20
29	Jeremy	1,446	↓2	18
30	Aaron	1,408	↓2	34
31	Mark	1,356	↑1	30
32	Brandon	1,346	↑3	31
33	Scott	1,328	↓3	33
34	Paul	1,298	↓1	35
35	Thomas	1,267	↓1	25
36	Benjamin	1,206	–	32
37	Carlos	1,132	–	78
38	Charles	1,063	–	29
39	Sean	1,061	–	48
40	Luis	1,058	↑10	88
41	Jesus	1,036	↓1	>100
42	Jesse	1,004	–	45
43	Patrick	902	↑1	38
44	Jacob	901	new	43
45	Gabriel	876	↑3	85
46	Nathan	861	↓5	36
47	Kenneth	860	↓1	41
48	Gregory	855	↓3	42
49	Jorge	841	↓6	>100
50	Stephen	835	↓1	40

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