Popular baby names in South Dakota, 1979

The most popular baby names in South Dakota in 1979 were Jennifer for girls (244 babies) and Matthew for boys (196). Matthew ranked #6 nationally for boys. Social Security records list 10,016 babies born in South Dakota in 1979 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in South Dakota in 1979

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

Girls

Kari: 26 babies, 4.8× the national rate
Heidi: 44 babies, 4.1× the national rate
Kristi: 34 babies, 4.1× the national rate
Trisha: 21 babies, 4× the national rate
Nichole: 31 babies, 3.6× the national rate
Carmen: 17 babies, 3.6× the national rate
Jill: 49 babies, 3.2× the national rate
Ann: 21 babies, 3.2× the national rate
Miranda: 15 babies, 3.2× the national rate
Kara: 18 babies, 2.7× the national rate

Boys

Cody: 41 babies, 7.2× the national rate
Wade: 16 babies, 6.8× the national rate
Heath: 20 babies, 6.5× the national rate
Kelly: 18 babies, 4.8× the national rate
Tyler: 28 babies, 4.4× the national rate
Casey: 34 babies, 3.6× the national rate
Lance: 21 babies, 3.6× the national rate
Jay: 23 babies, 3.5× the national rate
Travis: 104 babies, 3.1× the national rate
Troy: 28 babies, 3.1× the national rate

Top 50 girls' and boys' names in South Dakota, 1979

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1978	US rank
1	Jennifer	244	–	1
2	Jessica	133	–	4
3	Melissa	132	↑1	2
4	Amanda	128	↑11	3
5	Angela	107	↑1	8
6	Heather	106	↑1	7
7	Amy	101	↓4	5
8	Sarah	92	↓3	6
9	Nicole	83	–	9
10	Michelle	82	–	10
11	Rebecca	79	↓3	17
12	Lisa	76	↑4	13
13	Jamie	71	↑10	19
14	Amber	67	↓1	22
15	Sara	58	↓3	30
16	Stephanie	56	↓5	15
17	Elizabeth	55	↑5	11
18	Andrea	53	↑3	26
19	Laura	51	↑1	20
20	Erin	50	↓3	21
21	Kimberly	50	↓2	12
22	Jill	49	↓8	52
23	Christina	47	↑4	14
24	Crystal	45	↑5	18
25	Heidi	44	↑3	83
26	Julie	44	↑4	29
27	Kelly	44	↓9	16
28	Tara	42	↓4	38
29	Rachel	40	↑16	27
30	April	38	↑6	23
31	Emily	38	↑1	34
32	Holly	37	↑1	48
33	Shannon	35	↓7	25
34	Stacy	35	↓9	43
35	Katie	34	new	63
36	Kristi	34	↑4	>100
37	Megan	33	new	31
38	Nichole	31	new	>100
39	Kristina	30	new	74
40	Mary	29	↑1	24
41	Brandy	27	new	39
42	Erica	27	↑4	32
43	Misty	27	↑1	42
44	Tiffany	27	new	28
45	Kari	26	↓6	>100
46	Tanya	25	↓8	93
47	Brooke	24	new	85
48	Lori	23	↓17	69
49	Melanie	23	new	53
50	Mindy	23	new	81

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1978	US rank
1	Matthew	196	↑4	6
2	Michael	193	↓1	1
3	Jason	190	↓1	3
4	Christopher	170	–	2
5	Joshua	149	↑2	9
6	Ryan	134	↓3	14
7	Justin	124	↑1	22
8	Nicholas	111	↑18	15
9	John	109	↑3	7
10	Jeremy	108	↓4	16
11	Brian	105	↓2	10
12	Travis	104	↑2	36
13	Aaron	103	↑7	32
14	David	102	↓4	4
15	Eric	102	↓4	17
16	James	101	↑2	5
17	Adam	94	↑14	23
18	Daniel	93	↓1	12
19	Robert	83	↓6	8
20	Chad	75	↓4	38
21	Nathan	75	↓6	37
22	Joseph	74	↑2	11
23	Andrew	69	–	20
24	Scott	68	↓2	29
25	Timothy	62	↓6	18
26	Jeffrey	60	↓1	24
27	Benjamin	59	↑7	33
28	Jesse	59	↑1	50
29	Mark	57	↓1	30
30	Kevin	56	↑2	19
31	Paul	56	↓1	34
32	Thomas	54	↓5	26
33	Bradley	50	↑12	47
34	Brandon	48	↑12	35
35	Steven	48	↓14	27
36	William	48	–	13
37	Dustin	46	↑4	62
38	Cody	41	↓1	>100
39	Anthony	40	↓6	21
40	Jonathan	40	↑9	31
41	Shane	40	↓1	67
42	Casey	34	new	93
43	Kyle	33	–	56
44	Shawn	33	↓9	43
45	Bryan	32	new	46
46	Patrick	32	↓4	39
47	Richard	31	↓3	25
48	Charles	29	↓9	28
49	Troy	28	new	99
50	Tyler	28	new	>100

← South Dakota 1978 South Dakota: all years · US 1979 South Dakota 1980 →