Popular baby names in New York, 1981

The most popular baby names in New York in 1981 were Jennifer for girls (3,836 babies) and Michael for boys (5,993). Social Security records list 214,875 babies born in New York in 1981 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in New York in 1981

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

Girls

Rivka: 57 babies, 13× the national rate
Chaya: 118 babies, 11.7× the national rate
Chana: 113 babies, 9.8× the national rate
Milagros: 55 babies, 9.8× the national rate
Jasmin: 130 babies, 5.9× the national rate
Annmarie: 60 babies, 4.5× the national rate
Rosemarie: 56 babies, 4.3× the national rate
Janine: 114 babies, 3.8× the national rate
Dina: 90 babies, 3.6× the national rate
Miriam: 165 babies, 3.4× the national rate

Boys

Yoel: 91 babies, 14.5× the national rate
Chaim: 81 babies, 12.3× the national rate
Moshe: 86 babies, 10.8× the national rate
Jamel: 127 babies, 8.4× the national rate
Salvatore: 136 babies, 6.4× the national rate
Wilfredo: 65 babies, 6.4× the national rate
Ariel: 74 babies, 4.9× the national rate
Kareem: 93 babies, 4.6× the national rate
Alexis: 94 babies, 3.7× the national rate
Edwin: 304 babies, 3.6× the national rate

Top 50 girls' and boys' names in New York, 1981

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1980	US rank
1	Jennifer	3,836	–	1
2	Jessica	3,142	–	2
3	Melissa	2,105	–	5
4	Nicole	1,959	–	7
5	Sarah	1,458	↑1	4
6	Elizabeth	1,401	↑1	9
7	Michelle	1,369	↓2	11
8	Danielle	1,217	↑3	30
9	Amanda	1,208	↑1	3
10	Lisa	1,206	↓2	18
11	Stephanie	1,112	↑4	8
12	Kimberly	1,094	↓3	13
13	Christina	1,089	↓1	17
14	Amy	1,003	↑3	6
15	Lauren	983	↑3	35
16	Rebecca	938	↑5	12
17	Erin	929	↑3	19
18	Heather	924	↓5	10
19	Tiffany	882	–	14
20	Christine	880	↓4	42
21	Kelly	842	↓7	23
22	Laura	834	–	21
23	Rachel	806	↑1	22
24	Sara	680	↑3	26
25	Kristin	664	↑10	31
26	Andrea	659	↑4	24
27	Erica	640	↓2	36
28	Maria	634	↓2	40
29	Kristen	622	↑2	38
30	Jamie	609	↑2	28
31	Mary	586	↓3	27
32	Angela	585	↓9	15
33	Katherine	575	–	39
34	Crystal	565	↑5	16
35	Tara	553	↓6	45
36	Shannon	531	↓2	32
37	Diana	506	new	75
38	Emily	493	↑4	29
39	Julie	479	↓1	37
40	Jacqueline	458	–	67
41	Megan	439	↓4	33
42	Vanessa	420	↓1	62
43	Karen	415	↓7	64
44	Patricia	406	↓1	53
45	Samantha	405	new	51
46	Allison	391	new	57
47	Kathryn	387	new	48
48	Kathleen	386	↓4	82
49	Catherine	372	↓4	73
50	April	367	new	25

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1980	US rank
1	Michael	5,993	–	1
2	Christopher	3,445	–	2
3	Jason	2,895	–	4
4	David	2,838	–	5
5	Joseph	2,774	–	11
6	Matthew	2,742	↑2	3
7	John	2,535	↓1	8
8	Daniel	2,425	↑1	10
9	Robert	2,388	↓2	9
10	James	2,255	–	7
11	Brian	2,000	–	14
12	Anthony	1,875	–	23
13	William	1,596	–	15
14	Jonathan	1,526	↑6	16
15	Joshua	1,438	↑7	6
16	Thomas	1,435	↓1	26
17	Eric	1,410	↓3	17
18	Kevin	1,397	↓1	25
19	Richard	1,388	↓3	27
20	Andrew	1,330	↓2	18
21	Justin	1,283	↑2	12
22	Nicholas	1,269	↓3	21
23	Adam	1,266	↓2	20
24	Steven	1,249	–	28
25	Ryan	1,228	↑2	13
26	Timothy	1,146	–	24
27	Jeffrey	1,086	↓2	29
28	Paul	1,002	↑1	35
29	Sean	928	↑6	44
30	Mark	901	↓2	33
31	Peter	883	↑1	55
32	Scott	839	↓2	34
33	Charles	799	↓2	31
34	Patrick	795	–	38
35	Stephen	776	↑2	39
36	Jose	773	↑2	45
37	Gregory	760	↓4	46
38	Jeremy	738	↓2	22
39	Benjamin	683	–	32
40	Edward	630	–	51
41	Kenneth	595	↑1	41
42	Aaron	559	↑2	30
43	Jesse	549	new	37
44	Brandon	536	new	19
45	Joel	529	↓4	65
46	Luis	500	↑1	92
47	Shawn	497	↓4	49
48	George	487	↓2	61
49	Keith	470	↓4	58
50	Frank	467	↓2	82

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