Popular baby names in Rhode Island, 1979

The most popular baby names in Rhode Island in 1979 were Jennifer for girls (229 babies) and Michael for boys (391). Social Security records list 9,771 babies born in Rhode Island in 1979 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in Rhode Island in 1979

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

Girls

Kerri: 40 babies, 12.9× the national rate
Bethany: 46 babies, 7.9× the national rate
Keri: 20 babies, 6.2× the national rate
Kristen: 69 babies, 5.4× the national rate
Jillian: 16 babies, 3.8× the national rate
Meghan: 23 babies, 3.2× the national rate
Christine: 67 babies, 3.1× the national rate
Lauren: 48 babies, 3.1× the national rate
Gina: 24 babies, 2.8× the national rate
Meredith: 15 babies, 2.7× the national rate

Boys

Peter: 65 babies, 3.5× the national rate
Neil: 15 babies, 3.3× the national rate
Marc: 18 babies, 2.6× the national rate
Stephen: 72 babies, 2.4× the national rate
Seth: 21 babies, 2.4× the national rate
Derek: 28 babies, 2.2× the national rate
Christian: 15 babies, 2.2× the national rate
Keith: 40 babies, 2.1× the national rate
Raymond: 28 babies, 2.1× the national rate

Top 50 girls' and boys' names in Rhode Island, 1979

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1978	US rank
1	Jennifer	229	–	1
2	Melissa	181	↑1	2
3	Jessica	171	↓1	4
4	Nicole	103	↑4	9
5	Heather	98	↓1	7
6	Stephanie	96	↑8	15
7	Sarah	89	↑4	6
8	Lisa	83	↓3	13
9	Kimberly	82	↑8	12
10	Elizabeth	79	↓1	11
11	Amy	78	↓5	5
12	Rebecca	77	↑3	17
13	Amanda	70	↑6	3
14	Erin	69	↓7	21
15	Kristen	69	↑1	62
16	Michelle	69	↓6	10
17	Christine	67	↓5	35
18	Christina	64	–	14
19	Danielle	52	↑1	33
20	Julie	52	↑1	29
21	Kelly	50	↓8	16
22	Lauren	48	↑5	45
23	Bethany	46	↑19	>100
24	Tara	42	↑16	38
25	Emily	40	↑9	34
26	Kerri	40	↓1	>100
27	Laura	39	↓5	20
28	Crystal	36	↑10	18
29	Jill	35	↑6	52
30	Katherine	35	↑3	36
31	Shannon	35	↑8	25
32	Angela	34	↓9	8
33	Erica	32	↓9	32
34	Megan	32	↑11	31
35	Alicia	31	↓5	47
36	Jamie	31	↓5	19
37	Mary	31	↑7	24
38	Holly	29	↑12	48
39	Melanie	29	↓2	53
40	Rachel	29	↓12	27
41	Andrea	28	↓12	26
42	Karen	26	↓10	46
43	Kristin	26	new	73
44	Tracy	26	new	49
45	Dawn	25	↓19	57
46	Sara	25	↑1	30
47	Stacey	25	new	60
48	Allison	24	new	70
49	Courtney	24	↓6	71
50	Gina	24	new	96

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1978	US rank
1	Michael	391	–	1
2	Jason	223	–	3
3	David	218	–	4
4	Christopher	211	↑1	2
5	Matthew	166	↓1	6
6	John	159	–	7
7	Joseph	152	↑1	11
8	Robert	147	↓1	8
9	Brian	129	–	10
10	James	123	–	5
11	Daniel	122	–	12
12	Steven	100	–	27
13	Nicholas	96	↑7	15
14	Richard	94	↑8	25
15	William	89	↓2	13
16	Kevin	86	↓2	19
17	Jeffrey	81	↓1	24
18	Thomas	80	↑1	26
19	Joshua	79	↓1	9
20	Timothy	79	↑1	18
21	Ryan	76	↑3	14
22	Jonathan	75	↑5	31
23	Scott	75	↑9	29
24	Eric	73	↓9	17
25	Stephen	72	↑6	40
26	Adam	68	↓1	23
27	Justin	67	↑6	22
28	Andrew	65	↓5	20
29	Peter	65	–	53
30	Mark	64	↓2	30
31	Paul	61	↓14	34
32	Patrick	59	↑13	39
33	Anthony	58	↓7	21
34	Gregory	48	↓4	42
35	Jeremy	48	↑7	16
36	Shawn	44	–	43
37	Kenneth	43	↓3	41
38	Charles	41	↑5	28
39	Benjamin	40	–	33
40	Keith	40	↓3	52
41	Edward	35	↓6	48
42	Sean	32	↓4	49
43	Kyle	29	new	56
44	Derek	28	–	72
45	George	28	new	57
46	Raymond	28	↓6	70
47	Jesse	27	new	50
48	Nathan	27	↓7	37
49	Aaron	22	new	32
50	Gary	21	new	59

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