Popular baby names in Iowa, 1980

The most popular baby names in Iowa in 1980 were Jennifer for girls (880 babies) and Joshua for boys (828). Joshua ranked #7 nationally for boys. Social Security records list 42,664 babies born in Iowa in 1980 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in Iowa in 1980

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: 24 babies, 6.4× the national rate
Abbie: 17 babies, 6.1× the national rate
Sadie: 17 babies, 5.1× the national rate
Abbey: 16 babies, 4.8× the national rate
Abby: 53 babies, 4.7× the national rate
Katy: 24 babies, 3.9× the national rate
Leann: 23 babies, 3.9× the national rate
Kari: 76 babies, 3.6× the national rate
Molly: 94 babies, 3.5× the national rate
Jill: 183 babies, 3.3× the national rate

Boys

Jerad: 16 babies, 6.7× the national rate
Trent: 41 babies, 5.6× the national rate
Tanner: 20 babies, 5.1× the national rate
Kory: 17 babies, 4.2× the national rate
Trenton: 18 babies, 4× the national rate
Bret: 20 babies, 3.9× the national rate
Wade: 33 babies, 3.5× the national rate
Bryce: 29 babies, 3.5× the national rate
Kurtis: 17 babies, 3.5× the national rate
Lucas: 132 babies, 3.4× the national rate

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

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1979	US rank
1	Jennifer	880	–	1
2	Amanda	688	–	2
3	Jessica	590	–	3
4	Sarah	545	↑2	5
5	Melissa	516	–	4
6	Amy	372	↓2	8
7	Angela	358	–	12
8	Nicole	358	↑1	7
9	Sara	330	↑4	27
10	Heather	328	↓2	6
11	Stephanie	300	↑7	13
12	Amber	286	↑2	22
13	Elizabeth	272	↑2	9
14	Emily	268	↑5	31
15	Erin	267	↑2	20
16	Michelle	262	↓6	10
17	Lisa	256	↓6	16
18	Megan	236	↑2	30
19	Laura	225	↑7	21
20	Kelly	222	↓8	19
21	Tiffany	221	↑20	14
22	Katie	218	↑7	44
23	Rachel	206	↑4	23
24	Rebecca	203	↓2	17
25	Jamie	200	↓1	24
26	Kimberly	195	↓3	11
27	Jill	183	↓11	66
28	Andrea	180	↓7	28
29	Christina	162	↓4	15
30	Kristin	147	↑19	37
31	Julie	145	–	32
32	Brooke	138	↑13	57
33	April	133	↑5	26
34	Mary	133	↑8	25
35	Tara	131	↓2	43
36	Katherine	130	–	35
37	Carrie	127	↓9	46
38	Crystal	123	↓4	18
39	Holly	120	↓9	52
40	Heidi	116	–	79
41	Shannon	112	↓9	29
42	Danielle	110	new	33
43	Stacy	103	↓8	53
44	Kathryn	102	↓5	50
45	Lindsay	102	↓2	71
46	Molly	94	new	>100
47	Dawn	91	↑1	67
48	Alicia	83	↓2	47
49	Erica	82	new	34
50	Kelli	81	new	>100

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1979	US rank
1	Joshua	828	↑3	7
2	Michael	758	↑1	1
3	Matthew	753	↓2	6
4	Jason	637	↓2	3
5	Ryan	633	–	15
6	Justin	605	↑3	13
7	Christopher	547	↓1	2
8	Adam	531	↑3	22
9	Nicholas	524	↓2	17
10	Brian	487	↓2	12
11	Andrew	454	↓1	19
12	Joseph	434	↑2	10
13	David	428	–	4
14	Eric	418	↑6	16
15	Jeremy	417	↓3	18
16	John	380	↑1	8
17	Daniel	358	↓2	11
18	Nathan	356	↑1	36
19	Benjamin	355	↑4	32
20	James	335	↓2	5
21	Chad	327	↓5	39
22	Timothy	305	↑3	20
23	Travis	304	↓1	37
24	Aaron	293	↑2	34
25	Jeffrey	279	↑2	27
26	Robert	277	↓5	9
27	Scott	261	↓3	33
28	Dustin	246	↑9	44
29	Brandon	226	↑6	31
30	Jacob	220	↑3	43
31	Bradley	215	↑5	51
32	Mark	211	↓4	30
33	Jonathan	210	↑5	21
34	Kevin	205	↓5	23
35	Anthony	194	↓1	24
36	William	194	↓6	14
37	Steven	190	↓6	28
38	Thomas	182	↓6	25
39	Jesse	173	↑4	45
40	Kyle	141	↓1	57
41	Cory	137	↓1	83
42	Lucas	132	new	98
43	Richard	129	↓1	26
44	Charles	128	↑2	29
45	Shane	128	↑3	69
46	Derek	127	new	50
47	Jared	126	↑3	61
48	Patrick	121	↓1	38
49	Todd	113	–	75
50	Paul	110	↓5	35

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