Popular baby names in New Jersey, 1979

The most popular baby names in New Jersey in 1979 were Jennifer for girls (1,576 babies) and Michael for boys (2,509). Social Security records list 79,632 babies born in New Jersey in 1979 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in New Jersey in 1979

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

Girls

Lateefah: 26 babies, 18.1× the national rate
Naimah: 20 babies, 18× the national rate
Rasheedah: 21 babies, 12.2× the national rate
Shakira: 25 babies, 11× the national rate
Tyisha: 20 babies, 8.2× the national rate
Ayesha: 19 babies, 5.6× the national rate
Madeline: 22 babies, 4.1× the national rate
Maura: 20 babies, 3.8× the national rate
Janine: 45 babies, 3.7× the national rate
Dina: 36 babies, 3.7× the national rate

Boys

Raheem: 43 babies, 14.9× the national rate
Malik: 29 babies, 8× the national rate
Wilfredo: 33 babies, 7.6× the national rate
Abdul: 24 babies, 7.6× the national rate
Rocco: 27 babies, 5.9× the national rate
Jamil: 22 babies, 5.8× the national rate
Kareem: 50 babies, 5.7× the national rate
Salvatore: 45 babies, 5.2× the national rate
Alexis: 35 babies, 4.3× the national rate
Gerard: 32 babies, 3.9× the national rate

Top 50 girls' and boys' names in New Jersey, 1979

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1978	US rank
1	Jennifer	1,576	–	1
2	Melissa	1,073	–	2
3	Nicole	805	↑1	9
4	Jessica	803	↓1	4
5	Lisa	590	↑1	13
6	Kelly	569	↑1	16
7	Michelle	552	↓2	10
8	Kimberly	544	–	12
9	Lauren	474	↑8	45
10	Christine	463	↑2	35
11	Heather	461	↓2	7
12	Danielle	457	↓1	33
13	Christina	443	–	14
14	Elizabeth	424	–	11
15	Amanda	420	↑7	3
16	Amy	397	↓6	5
17	Laura	350	↓1	20
18	Stephanie	334	↓3	15
19	Sarah	317	↑2	6
20	Tara	313	↓1	38
21	Erin	307	↓3	21
22	Rebecca	285	↓2	17
23	Megan	277	↑14	31
24	Dana	275	↑4	54
25	Jamie	270	↓1	19
26	Shannon	266	↓3	25
27	Mary	226	↑4	24
28	Karen	224	↓2	46
29	Maria	224	–	37
30	Kristen	219	↑6	62
31	Andrea	212	↓6	26
32	Rachel	212	↑7	27
33	Erica	209	↓3	32
34	Susan	200	↑4	51
35	Michele	199	↓8	>100
36	Katherine	198	↑8	36
37	Angela	194	↓3	8
38	Dawn	185	↓6	57
39	Tiffany	184	new	28
40	Kristin	180	↑6	73
41	Jacqueline	178	↑2	80
42	Kathleen	176	↓7	84
43	Colleen	175	new	>100
44	Allison	174	new	70
45	Patricia	172	↓3	44
46	Jill	171	↓13	52
47	Gina	157	–	96
48	Meghan	152	new	>100
49	Crystal	151	new	18
50	Sandra	147	new	77

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1978	US rank
1	Michael	2,509	–	1
2	Christopher	1,450	–	2
3	David	1,322	–	4
4	John	1,202	↑1	7
5	Joseph	1,162	↑2	11
6	Robert	1,149	–	8
7	Jason	1,126	↓3	3
8	Brian	1,070	↑1	10
9	James	1,018	↓1	5
10	Daniel	946	–	12
11	Matthew	873	–	6
12	William	760	–	13
13	Thomas	679	–	26
14	Anthony	675	↑2	21
15	Kevin	594	↓1	19
16	Richard	548	↓1	25
17	Jeffrey	535	–	24
18	Steven	529	↑3	27
19	Nicholas	526	↑5	15
20	Ryan	473	–	14
21	Mark	470	↑1	30
22	Eric	450	↓3	17
23	Timothy	446	↓5	18
24	Andrew	435	↑1	20
25	Scott	399	↓2	29
26	Paul	390	–	34
27	Jonathan	370	↑6	31
28	Stephen	356	↓1	40
29	Adam	354	↑2	23
30	Joshua	338	↑4	9
31	Edward	332	↑1	48
32	Peter	328	↓3	53
33	Charles	326	↓5	28
34	Gregory	314	↓4	42
35	Justin	303	↑5	22
36	Kenneth	292	–	41
37	Sean	291	↓2	49
38	Patrick	266	–	39
39	Jose	257	–	44
40	Keith	248	↓3	52
41	George	227	↑1	57
42	Frank	221	↓1	78
43	Bryan	213	↑4	46
44	Shawn	191	↑2	43
45	Ronald	176	–	54
46	Jeremy	174	new	16
47	Raymond	173	new	70
48	Douglas	172	↓5	58
49	Luis	169	–	>100
50	Dennis	156	new	75

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