Popular baby names in Iowa, 1981

The most popular baby names in Iowa in 1981 were Jennifer for girls (812 babies) and Matthew for boys (824). Matthew ranked #3 nationally for boys. Social Security records list 41,234 babies born in Iowa in 1981 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in Iowa in 1981

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

Girls

Abby: 73 babies, 5.2× the national rate
Bobbi: 31 babies, 4× the national rate
Abbey: 18 babies, 4× the national rate
Marcy: 16 babies, 4× the national rate
Jill: 173 babies, 3.9× the national rate
Callie: 16 babies, 3.9× the national rate
Staci: 27 babies, 3.6× the national rate
Kari: 80 babies, 3.5× the national rate
Molly: 83 babies, 3.4× the national rate
Alissa: 34 babies, 3.4× the national rate

Boys

Trent: 30 babies, 4.3× the national rate
Bret: 28 babies, 4.3× the national rate
Brock: 25 babies, 4.2× the national rate
Trenton: 17 babies, 4.2× the national rate
Kory: 16 babies, 4.1× the national rate
Darin: 19 babies, 3.4× the national rate
Heath: 32 babies, 3.3× the national rate
Cory: 123 babies, 3× the national rate
Lucas: 118 babies, 2.9× the national rate
Tyler: 110 babies, 2.9× the national rate

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

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1980	US rank
1	Jennifer	812	–	1
2	Jessica	678	↑1	2
3	Amanda	609	↓1	3
4	Sarah	550	–	4
5	Melissa	436	–	5
6	Amy	419	–	6
7	Sara	338	↑2	26
8	Nicole	322	–	7
9	Angela	298	↓2	15
10	Emily	296	↑4	29
11	Amber	292	↑1	20
12	Heather	292	↓2	10
13	Stephanie	290	↓2	8
14	Elizabeth	285	↓1	9
15	Michelle	275	↑1	11
16	Megan	239	↑2	33
17	Rebecca	225	↑7	12
18	Erin	223	↓3	19
19	Lisa	217	↓2	18
20	Andrea	211	↑8	24
21	Tiffany	200	–	14
22	Rachel	197	↑1	22
23	Kimberly	196	↑3	13
24	Laura	192	↓5	21
25	Katie	190	↓3	44
26	Jamie	176	↓1	28
27	Jill	173	–	78
28	Kristin	173	↑2	31
29	Brooke	168	↑3	52
30	Kelly	163	↓10	23
31	Crystal	152	↑7	16
32	Julie	152	↓1	37
33	Christina	145	↓4	17
34	Katherine	144	↑2	39
35	April	141	↓2	25
36	Lindsay	139	↑9	47
37	Mary	118	↓3	27
38	Tara	114	↓3	45
39	Holly	113	–	63
40	Ashley	112	new	34
41	Heidi	111	↓1	84
42	Carrie	109	↓5	55
43	Shannon	107	↓2	32
44	Lindsey	106	new	58
45	Danielle	101	↓3	30
46	Anna	96	new	54
47	Kathryn	95	↓3	48
48	Stacy	93	↓5	65
49	Alicia	89	↓1	46
50	Erica	86	↓1	36

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1980	US rank
1	Matthew	824	↑2	3
2	Michael	793	–	1
3	Joshua	763	↓2	6
4	Ryan	617	↑1	13
5	Jason	594	↓1	4
6	Justin	576	–	12
7	Christopher	519	–	2
8	Adam	497	–	20
9	Nicholas	467	–	21
10	Andrew	454	↑1	18
11	David	431	↑2	5
12	Joseph	415	–	11
13	Daniel	386	↑4	10
14	John	371	↑2	8
15	Brian	369	↓5	14
16	Eric	364	↓2	17
17	Nathan	355	↑1	36
18	Brandon	341	↑11	19
19	Benjamin	325	–	32
20	Aaron	322	↑4	30
21	James	312	↓1	7
22	Jeremy	302	↓7	22
23	Robert	284	↑3	9
24	Travis	284	↓1	40
25	Dustin	266	↑3	42
26	Timothy	264	↓4	24
27	Scott	263	–	34
28	Jacob	262	↑2	43
29	Chad	255	↓8	47
30	Jeffrey	247	↓5	29
31	Anthony	229	↑4	23
32	Jonathan	219	↑1	16
33	Thomas	212	↑5	26
34	William	203	↑2	15
35	Jesse	198	↑4	37
36	Bradley	197	↓5	50
37	Mark	193	↓5	33
38	Steven	173	↓1	28
39	Kevin	171	↓5	25
40	Kyle	142	–	52
41	Jared	128	↑6	57
42	Zachary	125	new	63
43	Charles	124	↑1	31
44	Cory	123	↓3	90
45	Brett	120	new	79
46	Patrick	119	↑2	38
47	Lucas	118	↓5	89
48	Paul	116	↑2	35
49	Richard	113	↓6	27
50	Tyler	110	new	96

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