Popular baby names in West Virginia, 1981

The most popular baby names in West Virginia in 1981 were Amanda for girls (585 babies) and Joshua for boys (587). Amanda ranked #3 nationally for girls. Joshua ranked #6 nationally for boys. Social Security records list 24,452 babies born in West Virginia in 1981 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in West Virginia in 1981

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

Girls

Billie: 20 babies, 4.3× the national rate
Bobbie: 25 babies, 3.9× the national rate
Chasity: 19 babies, 3.8× the national rate
Tabitha: 46 babies, 3.5× the national rate
Tabatha: 15 babies, 3.4× the national rate
Miranda: 50 babies, 3.2× the national rate
Charity: 20 babies, 3× the national rate
Misty: 95 babies, 2.9× the national rate
Shelley: 18 babies, 2.9× the national rate
Beth: 45 babies, 2.8× the national rate

Boys

Jackie: 20 babies, 6.7× the national rate
Roger: 59 babies, 3.6× the national rate
Franklin: 19 babies, 3.2× the national rate
Billy: 58 babies, 2.8× the national rate
Randall: 38 babies, 2.6× the national rate
Ernest: 23 babies, 2.4× the national rate
Jeremy: 308 babies, 2.2× the national rate
Roy: 27 babies, 2.2× the national rate
Shannon: 19 babies, 2.2× the national rate
Joshua: 587 babies, 2.1× the national rate

Top 50 girls' and boys' names in West Virginia, 1981

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1980	US rank
1	Amanda	585	–	3
2	Jessica	552	↑1	2
3	Jennifer	475	↓1	1
4	Melissa	272	–	5
5	Sarah	258	↑2	4
6	Amy	238	–	6
7	Heather	225	↓2	10
8	Stephanie	205	↑3	8
9	Angela	196	↓1	15
10	Crystal	188	↓1	16
11	Amber	186	↓1	20
12	Rebecca	183	–	12
13	Tiffany	157	–	14
14	Elizabeth	150	↑6	9
15	Christina	148	–	17
16	April	146	–	25
17	Ashley	138	↑8	34
18	Mary	127	↑1	27
19	Lisa	119	↑5	18
20	Michelle	114	↓6	11
21	Kimberly	112	↓3	13
22	Andrea	107	↓1	24
23	Brandy	106	↑16	41
24	Jamie	106	↓1	28
25	Laura	97	↑5	21
26	Rachel	97	↓4	22
27	Tara	96	↑7	45
28	Misty	95	↓11	61
29	Erin	94	↓3	19
30	Erica	93	↓2	36
31	Nicole	93	↑2	7
32	Sara	88	↓1	26
33	Kelly	81	↓6	23
34	Shannon	79	↓5	32
35	Julie	76	↓3	37
36	Kristen	75	↑10	38
37	Brandi	74	↓1	50
38	Megan	74	↓3	33
39	Courtney	73	↑6	43
40	Carrie	71	↓3	55
41	Emily	70	↑6	29
42	Kristin	68	↑1	31
43	Samantha	67	↓5	51
44	Leslie	63	↑5	56
45	Alicia	57	↑5	46
46	Lori	57	↓2	91
47	Stacey	53	new	83
48	Danielle	52	new	30
49	Stacy	52	↓8	65
50	Katherine	51	new	39

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1980	US rank
1	Joshua	587	↑1	6
2	Michael	527	↑1	1
3	Jason	468	↓2	4
4	James	451	↑1	7
5	Christopher	437	↓1	2
6	Matthew	396	↑1	3
7	David	356	↓1	5
8	Justin	345	↑5	12
9	John	341	↓1	8
10	Robert	339	–	9
11	Jeremy	308	↓2	22
12	William	275	↓1	15
13	Joseph	268	↓1	11
14	Jonathan	236	↑2	16
15	Brian	228	↓1	14
16	Charles	201	↑2	31
17	Timothy	195	↓2	24
18	Eric	178	↑1	17
19	Daniel	169	↑1	10
20	Adam	168	↓3	20
21	Ryan	165	↑3	13
22	Brandon	157	↑12	19
23	Andrew	155	↑3	18
24	Richard	152	↓2	27
25	Steven	139	↓2	28
26	Jeffrey	131	↑1	29
27	Thomas	131	↓6	26
28	Aaron	128	↓3	30
29	Travis	125	↑2	40
30	Mark	122	↓1	33
31	Kevin	120	↑2	25
32	Benjamin	112	–	32
33	Anthony	103	↑3	23
34	Chad	102	↓6	47
35	Nicholas	100	↓5	21
36	Nathan	99	↓1	36
37	Paul	96	↑8	35
38	Shawn	95	↑1	49
39	Jesse	91	↑10	37
40	Stephen	89	↓3	39
41	Scott	88	↑2	34
42	Dustin	87	new	42
43	Gregory	84	↑1	46
44	Kenneth	77	↓2	41
45	Bradley	74	new	50
46	Gary	70	↓6	62
47	Donald	69	↓6	56
48	Derek	64	↓10	53
49	Bryan	61	new	48
50	Jared	59	new	57

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