Popular baby names in California, 1981

The most popular baby names in California in 1981 were Jennifer for girls (5,625 babies) and Michael for boys (7,151). Social Security records list 382,171 babies born in California in 1981 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in California in 1981

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

Girls

Alejandra: 308 babies, 5.8× the national rate
Araceli: 218 babies, 5.3× the national rate
Mayra: 344 babies, 5.2× the national rate
Gabriela: 333 babies, 5.1× the national rate
Susana: 262 babies, 5.1× the national rate
Guadalupe: 330 babies, 4.9× the national rate
Beatriz: 161 babies, 4.8× the national rate
Lorena: 367 babies, 4.7× the national rate
Liliana: 239 babies, 4.7× the national rate
Silvia: 174 babies, 4.7× the national rate

Boys

Salvador: 402 babies, 5.3× the national rate
Octavio: 101 babies, 5.3× the national rate
Gustavo: 270 babies, 4.7× the national rate
Rigoberto: 112 babies, 4.6× the national rate
Hugo: 214 babies, 4.5× the national rate
Cesar: 453 babies, 4.4× the national rate
Arturo: 410 babies, 4.4× the national rate
Alejandro: 711 babies, 4.3× the national rate
Ignacio: 113 babies, 4.3× the national rate
Moises: 146 babies, 4.2× the national rate

Top 50 girls' and boys' names in California, 1981

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1980	US rank
1	Jennifer	5,625	–	1
2	Jessica	3,744	↑1	2
3	Melissa	2,845	↓1	5
4	Sarah	2,834	–	4
5	Michelle	2,464	–	11
6	Nicole	2,350	↑1	7
7	Elizabeth	2,312	↑1	9
8	Maria	2,240	↓2	40
9	Amanda	2,114	↑1	3
10	Christina	2,080	↓1	17
11	Stephanie	1,916	–	8
12	Amber	1,576	↑2	20
13	Lisa	1,534	↓1	18
14	Heather	1,491	↓1	10
15	Rebecca	1,463	↑3	12
16	Amy	1,460	↑5	6
17	Tiffany	1,399	↓1	14
18	Laura	1,382	↑1	21
19	Crystal	1,373	↑6	16
20	Kimberly	1,364	↓5	13
21	Erin	1,306	↑1	19
22	Angela	1,296	↓2	15
23	Andrea	1,273	↑3	24
24	Veronica	1,248	↓7	68
25	Monica	1,237	↓1	49
26	Danielle	1,208	↑6	30
27	Sara	1,182	↓4	26
28	Vanessa	1,135	↑1	62
29	Rachel	1,112	↑2	22
30	Kelly	1,057	↓3	23
31	Erica	1,014	↓1	36
32	Jamie	991	↓4	28
33	Shannon	968	–	32
34	Julie	919	↑6	37
35	Diana	896	new	75
36	Sandra	890	↓2	74
37	Megan	886	↓2	33
38	Christine	881	↓1	42
39	Cynthia	863	↑2	59
40	Lauren	861	↑6	35
41	April	858	↓3	25
42	Mary	845	↓3	27
43	Emily	821	↑1	29
44	Kristin	819	↑3	31
45	Patricia	812	↓9	53
46	Alicia	799	↓4	46
47	Katherine	798	↓4	39
48	Nancy	796	↓3	>100
49	Kristen	735	new	38
50	Erika	685	↓1	93

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1980	US rank
1	Michael	7,151	–	1
2	Christopher	5,178	↑1	2
3	David	4,937	↓1	5
4	Daniel	4,334	–	10
5	Matthew	3,884	↑2	3
6	Robert	3,734	–	9
7	Jason	3,712	↓2	4
8	Joshua	3,383	–	6
9	John	3,216	–	8
10	Jose	3,198	↑2	45
11	Ryan	3,173	–	13
12	Joseph	3,040	↑1	11
13	James	3,018	↓3	7
14	Brian	2,615	–	14
15	Justin	2,446	–	12
16	Anthony	2,383	↑2	23
17	Jonathan	2,246	↑6	16
18	Richard	2,195	↓1	27
19	Eric	2,118	↓3	17
20	Nicholas	2,055	↓1	21
21	Steven	1,973	↓1	28
22	Brandon	1,919	↑10	19
23	Andrew	1,880	↓1	18
24	Juan	1,857	↓3	60
25	William	1,791	↓1	15
26	Jeffrey	1,696	–	29
27	Kevin	1,684	↓2	25
28	Adam	1,624	↓1	20
29	Aaron	1,562	↑1	30
30	Jeremy	1,463	↓1	22
31	Timothy	1,417	↓3	24
32	Paul	1,411	↑2	35
33	Thomas	1,360	↑2	26
34	Mark	1,301	↓3	33
35	Sean	1,285	↑4	44
36	Scott	1,267	↓3	34
37	Jesse	1,250	↑5	37
38	Benjamin	1,236	↓2	32
39	Carlos	1,208	↓2	71
40	Charles	1,074	↓2	31
41	Jesus	1,038	–	>100
42	Luis	1,038	↓2	92
43	Kenneth	949	↑4	41
44	Patrick	948	↓1	38
45	Jacob	944	↓1	43
46	Nathan	940	–	36
47	Miguel	917	new	>100
48	Gregory	855	–	46
49	Jorge	842	–	>100
50	Francisco	833	new	>100

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