Popular baby names in New Jersey, 1986

The most popular baby names in New Jersey in 1986 were Jessica for girls (1,607 babies) and Michael for boys (2,650). Social Security records list 89,573 babies born in New Jersey in 1986 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in New Jersey in 1986

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

Shakira: 21 babies, 6.3× the national rate
Kaitlyn: 112 babies, 3.8× the national rate
Dina: 27 babies, 3.8× the national rate
Michele: 122 babies, 3.5× the national rate
Asia: 32 babies, 3.4× the national rate
Janine: 31 babies, 3.4× the national rate
Corinne: 37 babies, 3.3× the national rate
Jasmin: 54 babies, 3.2× the national rate
Shante: 26 babies, 3.2× the national rate
Dana: 237 babies, 3.1× the national rate

Boys

Jamil: 30 babies, 7.7× the national rate
Salvatore: 43 babies, 5.2× the national rate
Lamar: 66 babies, 4.1× the national rate
Dominick: 42 babies, 3.9× the national rate
Gerard: 31 babies, 3.6× the national rate
Francis: 77 babies, 3.3× the national rate
Nelson: 60 babies, 3.3× the national rate
Giovanni: 26 babies, 3× the national rate
Alexis: 31 babies, 2.8× the national rate
Frank: 225 babies, 2.7× the national rate

Top 50 girls' and boys' names in New Jersey, 1986

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1985	US rank
1	Jessica	1,607	–	1
2	Jennifer	1,253	–	4
3	Ashley	1,020	↑3	2
4	Amanda	1,014	↑1	3
5	Nicole	973	↓2	7
6	Lauren	846	↓2	14
7	Stephanie	741	↑1	6
8	Melissa	698	↓1	12
9	Danielle	672	–	16
10	Christina	561	–	19
11	Sarah	508	↑6	5
12	Elizabeth	499	↑1	10
13	Laura	459	↓2	20
14	Megan	453	↓2	11
15	Kimberly	443	–	18
16	Kelly	442	↑3	29
17	Michelle	440	↓1	23
18	Samantha	434	↑11	21
19	Heather	420	↓5	9
20	Christine	398	↓2	47
21	Rachel	386	↓1	15
22	Brittany	374	↑25	8
23	Lisa	343	↑1	40
24	Katherine	341	↑1	28
25	Erin	320	↓3	30
26	Tiffany	315	↑1	17
27	Kristen	307	↓6	41
28	Rebecca	305	↓2	26
29	Allison	303	↑5	42
30	Amy	303	↓7	22
31	Erica	281	–	31
32	Emily	266	↓2	24
33	Jacqueline	264	↑4	57
34	Sara	254	↑7	27
35	Caitlin	242	↑7	69
36	Dana	237	↑2	92
37	Vanessa	236	↑8	43
38	Courtney	234	↑11	35
39	Shannon	231	↓3	44
40	Jamie	228	↓12	34
41	Victoria	220	new	54
42	Kristin	216	↓10	50
43	Lindsay	212	↓4	46
44	Alexandra	208	new	72
45	Jenna	205	↓10	55
46	Tara	201	↓13	56
47	Crystal	194	↓7	25
48	Kathryn	191	↑2	48
49	Angela	188	↓3	33
50	Mary	187	↓2	37

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1985	US rank
1	Michael	2,650	–	1
2	Christopher	1,757	–	2
3	Matthew	1,475	–	3
4	Daniel	1,411	–	6
5	Joseph	1,185	–	12
6	David	1,163	↑1	5
7	Robert	1,149	↓1	9
8	John	1,105	–	10
9	James	1,019	–	7
10	Andrew	951	↑3	8
11	Anthony	931	↓1	19
12	Ryan	866	–	11
13	Brian	848	↓2	20
14	Thomas	797	↑1	26
15	Kevin	779	↑3	21
16	William	766	↓2	15
17	Jonathan	730	↓1	16
18	Jason	706	↓1	18
19	Steven	648	–	25
20	Nicholas	624	–	17
21	Eric	551	–	22
22	Richard	531	–	29
23	Kyle	526	↑7	23
24	Justin	521	↑2	14
25	Timothy	519	↓1	27
26	Jeffrey	493	↓1	32
27	Sean	481	–	37
28	Joshua	473	↓5	4
29	Mark	452	↓1	35
30	Stephen	450	↓1	36
31	Adam	392	–	24
32	Alexander	382	↑5	41
33	Gregory	376	↓1	46
34	Patrick	365	↓1	39
35	Scott	362	–	44
36	Paul	325	↓2	45
37	Peter	308	↑4	60
38	Charles	301	↓2	34
39	Brandon	293	↓1	13
40	Edward	283	↓1	61
41	Kenneth	276	↑1	50
42	Bryan	271	↓2	47
43	Jose	244	–	51
44	Jeremy	240	new	28
45	Frank	225	↑1	91
46	Luis	223	↑3	79
47	Keith	220	↓3	66
48	Shawn	218	↓1	55
49	Benjamin	213	↓1	30
50	Vincent	198	new	93

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