Popular baby names in Pennsylvania, 1981

The most popular baby names in Pennsylvania in 1981 were Jennifer for girls (2,820 babies) and Michael for boys (4,032). Social Security records list 146,752 babies born in Pennsylvania in 1981 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in Pennsylvania in 1981

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

Girls

Maura: 37 babies, 3.8× the national rate
Colleen: 291 babies, 3.4× the national rate
Maureen: 104 babies, 3× the national rate
Alyson: 49 babies, 2.6× the national rate
Beth: 238 babies, 2.5× the national rate
Janine: 50 babies, 2.4× the national rate
Gretchen: 84 babies, 2.3× the national rate
Michele: 208 babies, 2.2× the national rate
Bobbi: 61 babies, 2.2× the national rate
Lauren: 761 babies, 2.1× the national rate

Boys

Francis: 142 babies, 3.4× the national rate
Jamar: 53 babies, 2.6× the national rate
Harry: 85 babies, 2.4× the national rate
Lamar: 59 babies, 2.3× the national rate
Jamal: 52 babies, 2.3× the national rate
Dante: 43 babies, 2.3× the national rate

Top 50 girls' and boys' names in Pennsylvania, 1981

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1980	US rank
1	Jennifer	2,820	–	1
2	Jessica	2,286	–	2
3	Amanda	1,536	↑2	3
4	Melissa	1,493	↓1	5
5	Nicole	1,359	↓1	7
6	Sarah	1,130	↑4	4
7	Amy	1,124	–	6
8	Heather	1,061	↓2	10
9	Rebecca	984	↑2	12
10	Stephanie	935	↑3	8
11	Elizabeth	904	↑1	9
12	Michelle	834	↓4	11
13	Kelly	819	↓4	23
14	Erin	818	↑2	19
15	Lisa	810	↓1	18
16	Lauren	761	↑3	35
17	Kimberly	715	↓2	13
18	Laura	698	↑6	21
19	Christina	691	↓1	17
20	Danielle	684	↑2	30
21	Jamie	683	↓1	28
22	Megan	678	↑1	33
23	Angela	650	↓6	15
24	Tiffany	633	↓3	14
25	Rachel	622	–	22
26	Kristin	607	↑7	31
27	Kristen	574	↑4	38
28	Shannon	532	↓1	32
29	Julie	506	–	37
30	Mary	503	↓4	27
31	Amber	489	↑4	20
32	Emily	488	↑6	29
33	Andrea	470	↑3	24
34	Sara	470	–	26
35	Crystal	469	↓3	16
36	Christine	450	↓8	42
37	April	442	–	25
38	Tara	436	↓8	45
39	Erica	417	–	36
40	Katie	402	↑1	44
41	Dana	346	↓1	70
42	Ashley	340	new	34
43	Courtney	312	new	43
44	Colleen	291	new	>100
45	Kathryn	290	↑3	48
46	Brooke	285	new	52
47	Kathleen	284	–	82
48	Alicia	283	↑2	46
49	Katherine	283	↓4	39
50	Lindsay	269	new	47

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1980	US rank
1	Michael	4,032	–	1
2	Matthew	2,764	↑1	3
3	Jason	2,285	↓1	4
4	Christopher	2,147	↑1	2
5	David	2,068	↓1	5
6	John	1,969	–	8
7	Joseph	1,899	↑3	11
8	James	1,890	–	7
9	Robert	1,870	↓2	9
10	Joshua	1,726	↑1	6
11	Daniel	1,559	↑1	10
12	Justin	1,542	↑2	12
13	Brian	1,525	↓4	14
14	Ryan	1,495	↑1	13
15	William	1,390	↓2	15
16	Andrew	1,117	↑2	18
17	Thomas	1,098	–	26
18	Timothy	1,074	↑1	24
19	Jonathan	1,071	↑8	16
20	Eric	1,057	↓4	17
21	Adam	1,033	↓1	20
22	Kevin	938	–	25
23	Jeffrey	930	↓2	29
24	Richard	916	–	27
25	Nicholas	899	↓2	21
26	Anthony	878	↓1	23
27	Mark	845	↓1	33
28	Jeremy	779	–	22
29	Stephen	775	↑2	39
30	Scott	738	–	34
31	Steven	721	↓2	28
32	Brandon	669	↑12	19
33	Charles	620	↓1	31
34	Patrick	602	↑1	38
35	Aaron	586	↑3	30
36	Benjamin	578	↓2	32
37	Paul	551	↓1	35
38	Gregory	541	↓5	46
39	Shawn	538	↓2	49
40	Nathan	537	–	36
41	Jesse	529	↑9	37
42	Sean	518	↑1	44
43	Chad	458	↓4	47
44	Edward	420	↓2	51
45	Kenneth	406	↓4	41
46	Ronald	372	–	59
47	Bradley	370	↓2	50
48	Bryan	367	↓1	48
49	Keith	359	↓1	58
50	Peter	332	new	55

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