Popular baby names in Massachusetts, 1986

The most popular baby names in Massachusetts in 1986 were Jessica for girls (1,199 babies) and Michael for boys (2,199). Social Security records list 74,322 babies born in Massachusetts in 1986 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in Massachusetts in 1986

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

Girls

Meaghan: 110 babies, 7.2× the national rate
Siobhan: 27 babies, 6.9× the national rate
Katelyn: 220 babies, 5.5× the national rate
Maura: 29 babies, 5.2× the national rate
Kaitlyn: 124 babies, 5× the national rate
Katlyn: 20 babies, 4.9× the national rate
Kerri: 75 babies, 4.7× the national rate
Kerry: 63 babies, 4.4× the national rate
Joanne: 40 babies, 4.3× the national rate
Alycia: 25 babies, 4.3× the national rate

Boys

Brendan: 175 babies, 5.9× the national rate
Dana: 54 babies, 5.4× the national rate
Conor: 25 babies, 4.6× the national rate
Bradford: 35 babies, 4.2× the national rate
Brendon: 26 babies, 3.4× the national rate
Francis: 65 babies, 3.3× the national rate
Peter: 368 babies, 3× the national rate
Maxwell: 33 babies, 2.5× the national rate
Marc: 106 babies, 2.4× the national rate
Colin: 84 babies, 2.3× the national rate

Top 50 girls' and boys' names in Massachusetts, 1986

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1985	US rank
1	Jessica	1,199	↑1	1
2	Amanda	1,045	↑1	3
3	Ashley	1,002	↑1	2
4	Jennifer	959	↓3	4
5	Sarah	777	↑1	5
6	Nicole	774	↓1	7
7	Stephanie	623	↑1	6
8	Elizabeth	583	↓1	10
9	Lauren	510	↑1	14
10	Melissa	494	↓1	12
11	Laura	433	–	20
12	Danielle	428	–	16
13	Heather	405	–	9
14	Emily	402	–	24
15	Michelle	390	–	23
16	Rachel	370	↑7	15
17	Samantha	369	↑20	21
18	Christina	362	↓1	19
19	Amy	346	↓3	22
20	Katherine	344	↑4	28
21	Kimberly	333	↓3	18
22	Kristen	328	↓1	41
23	Erin	327	↓4	30
24	Rebecca	304	↓2	26
25	Megan	301	↓5	11
26	Kelly	293	–	29
27	Christine	287	↓2	47
28	Caitlin	277	↓1	69
29	Courtney	277	↑4	35
30	Sara	273	↑1	27
31	Meghan	246	↓3	71
32	Brittany	231	new	8
33	Allison	228	↑1	42
34	Lisa	228	↓5	40
35	Erica	224	↑8	31
36	Andrea	222	↓4	36
37	Katelyn	220	new	>100
38	Jillian	214	↑4	>100
39	Katie	212	↑11	38
40	Kristin	212	↑6	50
41	Angela	210	↑7	33
42	Lindsay	208	↓12	46
43	Julie	205	↓4	58
44	Kathryn	202	↓3	48
45	Crystal	201	↓7	25
46	Tiffany	193	new	17
47	Jacqueline	192	↓2	57
48	Alicia	189	↓1	45
49	Shannon	187	↓13	44
50	Jenna	182	↓15	55

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1985	US rank
1	Michael	2,199	–	1
2	Christopher	1,522	↑1	2
3	Matthew	1,485	↓1	3
4	Daniel	1,159	–	6
5	David	955	–	5
6	Andrew	954	↑2	8
7	Joseph	893	↑2	12
8	James	882	↑2	7
9	John	865	↓3	10
10	Ryan	847	↓3	11
11	Robert	799	–	9
12	Jonathan	742	↑1	16
13	Brian	736	↓1	20
14	Nicholas	718	↑1	17
15	Joshua	668	↓1	4
16	Kevin	629	↑1	21
17	William	588	↑2	15
18	Timothy	583	–	27
19	Jason	576	↓3	18
20	Thomas	568	↑1	26
21	Eric	530	↑1	22
22	Jeffrey	530	↑1	32
23	Justin	520	↑2	14
24	Adam	507	↓4	24
25	Anthony	498	↓1	19
26	Patrick	478	↑1	39
27	Sean	469	↑1	37
28	Stephen	458	↓2	36
29	Richard	448	↑1	29
30	Steven	436	↑1	25
31	Mark	427	↓2	35
32	Alexander	419	↑4	41
33	Kyle	396	↑4	23
34	Benjamin	384	↓2	30
35	Peter	368	↑3	60
36	Paul	354	↓3	45
37	Scott	312	↓2	44
38	Gregory	311	↓4	46
39	Brandon	279	–	13
40	Jeremy	247	↑6	28
41	Bryan	235	↑2	47
42	Nathan	229	–	43
43	Charles	219	↓2	34
44	Zachary	218	↑1	38
45	Shawn	211	↑5	55
46	Derek	194	↓6	57
47	Edward	186	–	61
48	Keith	183	–	66
49	Aaron	180	↓5	33
50	Brendan	175	new	>100

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