State roster

Top names in California

The names most likely to appear on 1981 California birth certificates, ranked by SSA state records. The SSA recorded 382,169 California births in 1981 across 4,170 distinct names.

Distinctively California

Names that rank far higher here than they do nationally — the ones that say California more than they say America.

#59Ana#189 nationally
#55Angelica#183 nationally
#73Adrianaoutside the national top 200
#58Claudia#181 nationally
#78Rosaoutside the national top 200
#79Sergiooutside the national top 200
#85Leticiaoutside the national top 200
#86Fernando#199 nationally
#88Soniaoutside the national top 200
#88Armandooutside the national top 200
#92Cesaroutside the national top 200
#61Alejandro#168 nationally

Girls

#1Jennifer5,627US #1
#2Jessica3,744US #2
#3Melissa2,845US #5
#4Sarah2,834US #4
#5Michelle2,464US #11
#6Nicole2,350US #7
#7Elizabeth2,312US #9
#8Maria2,240US #40
#9Amanda2,114US #3
#10Christina2,080US #17
#11Stephanie1,916US #8
#12Amber1,576US #20
#13Lisa1,534US #18
#14Heather1,491US #10
#15Rebecca1,463US #12
#16Amy1,460US #6
#17Tiffany1,399US #14
#18Laura1,382US #21
#19Crystal1,373US #16
#20Kimberly1,364US #13
#21Erin1,306US #19
#22Angela1,297US #15
#23Andrea1,273US #24
#24Veronica1,248US #68
#25Monica1,237US #49
#26Danielle1,208US #30
#27Sara1,182US #26
#28Vanessa1,135US #62
#29Rachel1,112US #22
#30Kelly1,057US #23
#31Erica1,014US #36
#32Jamie991US #28
#33Shannon968US #32
#34Julie919US #37
#35Diana896US #75
#36Sandra890US #74
#37Megan886US #33
#38Christine881US #42
#39Cynthia863US #59
#40Lauren861US #35
#41April858US #25
#42Mary845US #27
#43Emily821US #29
#44Kristin819US #31
#45Patricia812US #53
#46Alicia799US #46
#47Katherine798US #39
#48Nancy796US #101
#49Kristen735US #38
#50Erika685US #93
#51Natalie671US #60
#52Jacqueline663US #67
#53Anna656US #54
#54Monique654US #103
#55Angelica593US #183
#56Wendy590US #90
#57Denise586US #96
#58Claudia579US #181
#59Ana571US #189
#60Valerie537US #89
#61Katie529US #44
#62Julia520US #88
#63Courtney519US #43
#64Ashley515US #34
#65Kathryn512US #48
#66Kristina502US #72
#67Brenda501US #112
#68Lindsay499US #47
#69Victoria488US #87
#70Linda479US #111
#71Teresa471US #97
#72Samantha444US #51
#73Adriana441
#74Brooke439US #52
#75Karen435US #64
#76Leslie435US #56
#77Allison434US #57
#78Rosa424
#79Melanie418US #66
#80Joanna410US #154
#81Brandy409US #41
#82Tara407US #45
#83Candice405US #86
#84Gina404US #106
#85Leticia399
#86Desiree392US #171
#87Martha388US #175
#88Sonia388
#89Lindsey381US #58
#90Sabrina380US #120
#91Leah378US #81
#92Tanya376US #92
#93Janet373US #176
#94Tina371US #80
#95Catherine367US #73
#96Lorena367
#97Susan361US #71
#98Heidi360US #84
#99Renee357US #98
#100Brandi353US #50

Boys

#1Michael7,150US #1
#2Christopher5,177US #2
#3David4,938US #5
#4Daniel4,334US #10
#5Matthew3,884US #3
#6Robert3,734US #9
#7Jason3,713US #4
#8Joshua3,384US #6
#9John3,217US #8
#10Jose3,198US #45
#11Ryan3,173US #13
#12Joseph3,040US #11
#13James3,018US #7
#14Brian2,615US #14
#15Justin2,446US #12
#16Anthony2,383US #23
#17Jonathan2,246US #16
#18Richard2,196US #27
#19Eric2,118US #17
#20Nicholas2,055US #21
#21Steven1,973US #28
#22Brandon1,919US #19
#23Andrew1,879US #18
#24Juan1,857US #60
#25William1,791US #15
#26Jeffrey1,696US #29
#27Kevin1,684US #25
#28Adam1,624US #20
#29Aaron1,562US #30
#30Jeremy1,463US #22
#31Timothy1,417US #24
#32Paul1,410US #35
#33Thomas1,361US #26
#34Mark1,301US #33
#35Sean1,284US #44
#36Scott1,267US #34
#37Jesse1,250US #37
#38Benjamin1,237US #32
#39Carlos1,207US #71
#40Charles1,074US #31
#41Jesus1,038US #108
#42Luis1,038US #92
#43Kenneth949US #41
#44Patrick948US #38
#45Jacob944US #43
#46Nathan940US #36
#47Miguel917US #116
#48Gregory855US #46
#49Jorge842US #128
#50Francisco833US #144
#51Ricardo826US #117
#52Gabriel822US #87
#53Edward817US #51
#54Bryan812US #48
#55Stephen809US #39
#56Dustin789US #42
#57Manuel766US #142
#58Victor745US #104
#59Mario733US #109
#60Alexander717US #70
#61Alejandro711US #168
#62Raymond709US #68
#63Samuel667US #54
#64Travis651US #40
#65Peter636US #55
#66Antonio629US #75
#67Erik619US #76
#68Roberto619US #147
#69Ronald613US #59
#70Shawn610US #49
#71Frank603US #82
#72Joel580US #65
#73George579US #61
#74Kyle577US #52
#75Jared557US #57
#76Adrian555US #115
#77Oscar541US #171
#78Ruben539US #169
#79Sergio539
#80Derek537US #53
#81Jaime536US #178
#82Chad525US #47
#83Raul516US #190
#84Donald514US #56
#85Javier504US #192
#86Fernando499US #199
#87Hector498US #177
#88Armando496
#89Christian481US #121
#90Keith469US #58
#91Vincent469US #107
#92Cesar453
#93Phillip452US #66
#94Gary439US #62
#95Arturo410
#96Eduardo404
#97Martin404US #127
#98Zachary404US #63
#99Salvador402
#100Ian396US #101

On the move since 1980

Rising

↑20Diana#35
↑19Ashley#64
↑19Lindsay#68
↑17Kyle#74
↑16Victoria#69
↑15Courtney#63
↑15Candice#83
↑13Denise#57

Falling

↓15Desiree#86
↓15Susan#97
↓15Erik#67
↓13Leslie#76
↓12Leticia#85
↓12Sonia#88
↓11Karen#75
↓10Derek#80

Every state

State-level SSA records cover 1910–2024 — a shorter window than the national archive, which runs back to 1880. See 1980 rankings.