Popular baby names in Minnesota, 1986

The most popular baby names in Minnesota in 1986 were Ashley for girls (949 babies) and Matthew for boys (1,185). Ashley ranked #2 nationally for girls. Matthew ranked #3 nationally for boys. Social Security records list 58,407 babies born in Minnesota in 1986 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in Minnesota in 1986

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

Girls

Pa: 15 babies, 15.2× the national rate
Mai: 25 babies, 9.3× the national rate
Britta: 20 babies, 6.5× the national rate
Kelsey: 186 babies, 4.6× the national rate
Kirsten: 52 babies, 4.3× the national rate
Brianna: 122 babies, 4.2× the national rate
Gretchen: 27 babies, 4.1× the national rate
Molly: 159 babies, 3.9× the national rate
Chelsey: 49 babies, 3.8× the national rate
Breanna: 43 babies, 3.8× the national rate

Boys

Brady: 66 babies, 4.4× the national rate
Reed: 17 babies, 4.4× the national rate
Cole: 70 babies, 3.9× the national rate
Darrin: 25 babies, 3.9× the national rate
Lucas: 127 babies, 3.5× the national rate
Ross: 93 babies, 3.1× the national rate
Luke: 134 babies, 3× the national rate
Mitchell: 134 babies, 3× the national rate
Kory: 22 babies, 2.9× the national rate
Erik: 144 babies, 2.8× the national rate

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

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1985	US rank
1	Ashley	949	↑1	2
2	Amanda	902	↓1	3
3	Jessica	852	↑1	1
4	Sarah	687	↑2	5
5	Jennifer	665	↓2	4
6	Nicole	635	↓1	7
7	Emily	471	↑3	24
8	Megan	448	–	11
9	Elizabeth	410	–	10
10	Stephanie	407	↑2	6
11	Laura	396	↓4	20
12	Katie	374	↑3	38
13	Rachel	372	↑3	15
14	Amber	362	↑4	13
15	Amy	362	↓1	22
16	Heather	328	↓3	9
17	Sara	319	–	27
18	Brittany	318	↑9	8
19	Melissa	312	↓8	12
20	Angela	299	↓1	33
21	Kelly	292	↑4	29
22	Samantha	284	↑11	21
23	Rebecca	281	↓3	26
24	Jenna	261	–	55
25	Katherine	257	↑1	28
26	Danielle	255	↓5	16
27	Andrea	246	↓4	36
28	Michelle	227	↑1	23
29	Jamie	224	↓1	34
30	Erin	212	↓8	30
31	Cassandra	207	↑1	60
32	Kayla	197	new	64
33	Anna	195	↓3	51
34	Allison	191	↑7	42
35	Kelsey	186	↑11	>100
36	Kimberly	185	–	18
37	Lindsey	181	↓6	39
38	Christina	174	↓3	19
39	Lindsay	172	↓1	46
40	Kathryn	171	↓3	48
41	Lisa	168	↓7	40
42	Mary	160	↑5	37
43	Molly	159	↓1	>100
44	Alicia	156	–	45
45	Kristin	155	↓2	50
46	Shannon	150	new	44
47	Tiffany	148	↑3	17
48	Lauren	145	new	14
49	Christine	138	↓9	47
50	Leah	133	new	78

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1985	US rank
1	Matthew	1,185	–	3
2	Michael	1,142	–	1
3	Andrew	1,097	–	8
4	Christopher	805	↑3	2
5	Ryan	795	↑1	11
6	Daniel	767	↓2	6
7	Nicholas	743	↑2	17
8	Joshua	706	↓3	4
9	Joseph	644	↓1	12
10	David	584	–	5
11	Adam	552	–	24
12	Jacob	546	–	31
13	Brandon	542	↑1	13
14	Kyle	500	↑7	23
15	Benjamin	488	↑4	30
16	John	463	↓3	10
17	Justin	460	–	14
18	Eric	456	↓3	22
19	Anthony	451	↓3	19
20	Jason	397	–	18
21	Robert	392	↓3	9
22	Thomas	386	↑2	26
23	Tyler	378	↑5	40
24	James	372	↓2	7
25	Brian	367	↓2	20
26	Nathan	363	↓1	43
27	Aaron	361	↑3	33
28	Jonathan	354	↓1	16
29	Timothy	352	↓3	27
30	Kevin	307	↑4	21
31	Alexander	302	↑14	41
32	Steven	300	↓1	25
33	Jeremy	291	↑6	28
34	Jeffrey	285	↓5	32
35	Scott	282	↓3	44
36	Dustin	275	↓3	42
37	Jesse	272	–	48
38	William	267	↓3	15
39	Zachary	263	↓1	38
40	Travis	262	–	49
41	Patrick	260	–	39
42	Paul	252	–	45
43	Mark	240	↓7	35
44	Peter	226	–	60
45	Derek	215	↓2	57
46	Jordan	186	new	53
47	Bradley	178	–	54
48	Sean	178	new	37
49	Charles	177	–	34
50	Richard	176	–	29

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