Popular baby names in Iowa, 1979

The most popular baby names in Iowa in 1979 were Jennifer for girls (948 babies) and Matthew for boys (829). Matthew ranked #6 nationally for boys. Social Security records list 41,863 babies born in Iowa in 1979 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in Iowa in 1979

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

Girls

Renae: 18 babies, 5.7× the national rate
Abby: 47 babies, 4.8× the national rate
Jill: 234 babies, 3.7× the national rate
Tami: 29 babies, 3.6× the national rate
Malinda: 18 babies, 3.6× the national rate
Jolene: 24 babies, 3.4× the national rate
Maggie: 19 babies, 3.3× the national rate
Kari: 73 babies, 3.2× the national rate
Molly: 77 babies, 3.1× the national rate
Joni: 24 babies, 3× the national rate

Boys

Bret: 27 babies, 4.3× the national rate
Tanner: 16 babies, 4.2× the national rate
Kurtis: 18 babies, 4.1× the national rate
Trent: 32 babies, 3.9× the national rate
Darin: 23 babies, 3.6× the national rate
Trenton: 18 babies, 3.3× the national rate
Cory: 144 babies, 3.1× the national rate
Chad: 389 babies, 3× the national rate
Tyler: 78 babies, 3× the national rate
Rick: 19 babies, 3× the national rate

Top 50 girls' and boys' names in Iowa, 1979

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1978	US rank
1	Jennifer	948	–	1
2	Amanda	576	↑6	3
3	Jessica	486	↑1	4
4	Amy	479	↓2	5
5	Melissa	462	–	2
6	Sarah	455	↓3	6
7	Angela	421	↓1	8
8	Heather	393	↓1	7
9	Nicole	335	–	9
10	Michelle	305	–	10
11	Lisa	274	↑3	13
12	Kelly	269	–	16
13	Sara	258	↓2	30
14	Amber	244	↑6	22
15	Elizabeth	239	–	11
16	Jill	234	–	52
17	Erin	229	↑2	21
18	Stephanie	218	↓5	15
19	Emily	216	↑2	34
20	Megan	211	↑9	31
21	Andrea	205	↓3	26
22	Rebecca	196	↓5	17
23	Kimberly	193	↑1	12
24	Jamie	192	↓1	19
25	Christina	188	↑3	14
26	Laura	165	↓4	20
27	Rachel	164	↓2	27
28	Carrie	152	↓1	41
29	Katie	149	↑4	63
30	Holly	146	↑6	48
31	Julie	146	↓5	29
32	Shannon	144	↓2	25
33	Tara	138	↓1	38
34	Crystal	137	–	18
35	Stacy	137	–	43
36	Katherine	136	↑7	36
37	Mindy	134	new	81
38	April	124	↓1	23
39	Kathryn	124	↓1	50
40	Heidi	121	–	83
41	Tiffany	117	new	28
42	Mary	112	↓11	24
43	Lindsay	108	new	88
44	Christine	98	↑3	35
45	Brooke	96	new	85
46	Alicia	93	new	47
47	Stacey	92	new	60
48	Dawn	90	↓9	57
49	Kristin	86	↓1	73
50	Brandy	80	new	39

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1978	US rank
1	Matthew	829	↑1	6
2	Jason	799	↓1	3
3	Michael	758	–	1
4	Joshua	741	↑1	9
5	Ryan	605	↓1	14
6	Christopher	596	–	2
7	Nicholas	579	↑2	15
8	Brian	454	↓1	10
9	Justin	435	↑11	22
10	Andrew	426	↑5	20
11	Adam	417	↑7	23
12	Jeremy	413	↓1	16
13	David	403	↓5	4
14	Joseph	401	↑3	11
15	Daniel	392	↑1	12
16	Chad	389	↓4	38
17	John	388	↓4	7
18	James	381	↓8	5
19	Nathan	359	–	37
20	Eric	358	↓6	17
21	Robert	338	↑1	8
22	Travis	321	↑5	36
23	Benjamin	314	↑3	33
24	Scott	307	–	29
25	Timothy	300	↓4	18
26	Aaron	291	↓3	32
27	Jeffrey	263	↓2	24
28	Mark	235	↑1	30
29	Kevin	220	↓1	19
30	William	210	↑2	13
31	Steven	208	↓1	27
32	Thomas	198	↓1	26
33	Jacob	194	↑9	45
34	Anthony	189	↓1	21
35	Brandon	187	↑1	35
36	Bradley	170	↓2	47
37	Dustin	161	↑1	62
38	Jonathan	147	↑1	31
39	Kyle	147	↑7	56
40	Cory	144	↓3	82
41	Shawn	130	↓6	43
42	Richard	126	↓2	25
43	Jesse	125	↑4	50
44	Zachary	124	new	74
45	Paul	121	↓1	34
46	Charles	111	↑3	28
47	Patrick	110	↓4	39
48	Shane	109	↓7	67
49	Todd	109	↓4	60
50	Jared	104	new	65

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