State roster

Top names in New Jersey

The names most likely to appear on 1986 New Jersey birth certificates, ranked by SSA state records. The SSA recorded 89,572 New Jersey births in 1986 across 1,616 distinct names.

Distinctively New Jersey

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

#74Kaitlynoutside the national top 200
#70Michele#188 nationally
#94Francisoutside the national top 200
#85Edwin#190 nationally
#91Omar#194 nationally
#100Wayne#191 nationally
#94Kaitlin#182 nationally
#97Brendan#185 nationally
#73Louis#160 nationally
#76Angel#163 nationally
#68Colleen#152 nationally
#98Hector#181 nationally

Girls

#1Jessica1,607US #1
#2Jennifer1,253US #4
#3Ashley1,020US #2
#4Amanda1,014US #3
#5Nicole973US #7
#6Lauren846US #14
#7Stephanie741US #6
#8Melissa698US #12
#9Danielle673US #16
#10Christina561US #19
#11Sarah508US #5
#12Elizabeth499US #10
#13Laura459US #20
#14Megan453US #11
#15Kimberly443US #18
#16Kelly442US #29
#17Michelle440US #23
#18Samantha434US #21
#19Heather420US #9
#20Christine398US #47
#21Rachel386US #15
#22Brittany374US #8
#23Lisa343US #40
#24Katherine341US #28
#25Erin320US #30
#26Tiffany315US #17
#27Kristen307US #41
#28Rebecca305US #26
#29Allison303US #42
#30Amy303US #22
#31Erica281US #31
#32Emily266US #24
#33Jacqueline264US #57
#34Sara254US #27
#35Caitlin242US #69
#36Dana237US #92
#37Vanessa236US #43
#38Courtney234US #35
#39Shannon231US #44
#40Jamie228US #34
#41Victoria220US #54
#42Kristin216US #50
#43Lindsay212US #46
#44Alexandra208US #72
#45Jenna205US #55
#46Tara201US #56
#47Crystal194US #25
#48Kathryn191US #48
#49Angela188US #33
#50Mary187US #37
#51Andrea186US #36
#52Kathleen184US #68
#53Meghan184US #71
#54Catherine177US #67
#55Maria176US #49
#56Alicia168US #45
#57Katie166US #38
#58Kristina165US #62
#59Jaclyn155US #133
#60Diana151US #75
#61Patricia147US #66
#62Lindsey144US #39
#63Gina140US #119
#64Alison139US #96
#65Alyssa135US #85
#66Jillian128US #107
#67Natalie128US #52
#68Colleen126US #152
#69Julia123US #88
#70Michele122US #188
#71Jasmine119US #95
#72Julie118US #58
#73Natasha116US #70
#74Kaitlyn112
#75Dominique111US #98
#76Karen111US #100
#77Latoya111US #111
#78Amber110US #13
#79Krystal105US #61
#80Valerie104US #76
#81Monica103US #59
#82Theresa102US #144
#83Anna101US #51
#84April101US #53
#85Whitney100US #32
#86Alexis97US #129
#87Margaret96US #90
#88Veronica96US #77
#89Erika95US #74
#90Marissa95US #115
#91Cynthia91US #81
#92Denise91US #128
#93Melanie91US #97
#94Kaitlin88US #182
#95Casey86US #80
#96Cassandra85US #60
#97Holly85US #63
#98Leah84US #78
#99Stacy80US #87
#100Desiree77US #141

Boys

#1Michael2,650US #1
#2Christopher1,757US #2
#3Matthew1,474US #3
#4Daniel1,411US #6
#5Joseph1,185US #12
#6David1,163US #5
#7Robert1,149US #9
#8John1,105US #10
#9James1,019US #7
#10Andrew951US #8
#11Anthony931US #19
#12Ryan866US #11
#13Brian848US #20
#14Thomas797US #26
#15Kevin779US #21
#16William766US #15
#17Jonathan730US #16
#18Jason706US #18
#19Steven648US #25
#20Nicholas624US #17
#21Eric551US #22
#22Richard531US #29
#23Kyle526US #23
#24Justin521US #14
#25Timothy519US #27
#26Jeffrey493US #32
#27Sean481US #37
#28Joshua473US #4
#29Mark452US #35
#30Stephen449US #36
#31Adam392US #24
#32Alexander382US #41
#33Gregory376US #46
#34Patrick365US #39
#35Scott362US #44
#36Paul324US #45
#37Peter308US #60
#38Charles301US #34
#39Brandon293US #13
#40Edward283US #61
#41Kenneth276US #50
#42Bryan271US #47
#43Jose244US #51
#44Jeremy240US #28
#45Frank226US #91
#46Luis222US #79
#47Keith220US #66
#48Shawn218US #55
#49Benjamin213US #30
#50Vincent198US #93
#51Jesse190US #48
#52George187US #74
#53Zachary169US #38
#54Christian168US #89
#55Samuel166US #52
#56Raymond164US #77
#57Aaron152US #33
#58Carlos148US #76
#59Alex147US #64
#60Ronald137US #75
#61Douglas136US #82
#62Gary130US #84
#63Evan129US #81
#64Craig126US #80
#65Jordan123US #53
#66Philip122US #86
#67Donald119US #71
#68Jared118US #58
#69Juan118US #65
#70Brett116US #69
#71Ian116US #85
#72Dennis113US #104
#73Louis111US #160
#74Corey110US #62
#75Marc110US #137
#76Angel109US #163
#77Derek106US #57
#78Tyler105US #40
#79Phillip104US #70
#80Marcus102US #63
#81Victor100US #88
#82Antonio97US #73
#83Jacob95US #31
#84Miguel94US #111
#85Edwin85US #190
#86Andre84US #133
#87Erik83US #92
#88Lawrence81US #151
#89Carl79US #114
#90Joel79US #72
#91Omar78US #194
#92Shane78US #67
#93Todd78US #110
#94Francis77
#95Gabriel75US #95
#96Shaun74US #132
#97Brendan72US #185
#98Hector72US #181
#99Travis72US #49
#100Wayne68US #191

On the move since 1985

Rising

↑25Brittany#22
↑25Julia#69
↑22Jordan#65
↑19Alexandra#44
↑14Alex#59
↑12Victoria#41
↑11Samantha#18
↑11Courtney#38

Falling

↓20Travis#99
↓18Erik#87
↓17Marc#75
↓15Alexis#86
↓14Gabriel#95
↓13Tara#46
↓13Krystal#79
↓12Jamie#40

Every state

State-level SSA records cover 1910–2024 — a shorter window than the national archive, which runs back to 1880. See 1985 rankings.