The most popular Gen X names: Is your name on this top 50 list?

The most popular Gen X names

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If you are Gen Xer reading this, there’s a statistically decent chance that your parents named you one of these popular Gen X names. 

You’ll also find some other first names you’ll recognize from school, even if you didn’t see them on your own birth certificate.

In fact, there is a roughly 25% chance that your name is on one of these lists (which means you could probably always find your name on the personalized keychain displays… unlike some of us).

We downloaded the most common first names for babies born from 1965 to 1980, and then ran the math.

In all, the top 25 lists below account for more than 16.5 million people — nearly 6 million girls, and 10.5 million boys. (That’s out of a total 65 million Gen Xers!)

Among other things, these retro stats show that there are a lot more female names in circulation, while parents tend to stick to the standards when choosing male names.

ALSO SEE: Retro baby car seats from the 60s, 70s & 80s: Forward- & rear-facing vintage auto safety seats for kids

Check out the Top 50 names of our generation! 

Note: The original data comes from the US Social Security Administration, which records births in the United States. The information contains only the descriptors “male name” and “female name.” Spelling variations are not included.

Most popular Gen X names for girls

Rank Name How many
1 Jennifer 752,352
2 Lisa 508,538
3 Michelle 410,002
4 Kimberly 406,767
5 Melissa 348,050
6 Amy 343,519
7 Angela 341,775
8 Elizabeth 240,890
9 Heather 223,892
10 Mary 214,725
11 Stephanie 192,809
12 Laura 192,740
13 Julie 164,195
14 Kelly 157,204
15 Tammy 157,085
16 Jessica 154,606
17 Karen 147,967
18 Nicole 143,472
19 Susan 139,188
20 Amanda 134,785
21 Rebecca 129,530
22 Christine 126,987
23 Sarah 119,801
24 Christina 112,213
25 Patricia 92,176

ALSO SEE: Remember the magic of baby aspirin, and how much kids loved those little orange pills?

Most popular Gen X names for boys

Rank Name How many
1 Michael 1,186,970
2 David 816,345
3 James 799,412
4 John 755,998
5 Robert 727,036
6 Christopher 673,805
7 Jason 511,104
8 William 499,776
9 Brian 493,642
10 Joseph 408,304
11 Daniel 389,968
12 Richard 338,413
13 Kevin 338,168
14 Jeffrey 331,281
15 Mark 310,985
16 Matthew 295,591
17 Steven 273,712
18 Scott 268,443
19 Thomas 264,990
20 Eric 234,188
21 Timothy 233,995
22 Joshua 131,358
23 Charles 110,292
24 Ryan 108,130
25 Jeremy 102,178
Nancy J Price & Betsy Bailey

Nancy J Price & Betsy Bailey

We're Nancy and Betsy, and we've been adventuring in the digital world since the mid-90s -- truly making us that type of entrepreneurial internet pioneer Gen X is known for! We started Myria.com back in 1998 and later launched SheKnows.com -- among various other online and print projects. Our partnership has spanned decades and crossed state lines (multiple times!). Nancy currently resides Arizona, and Betsy's newest home base is Minnesota. It's been an incredible journey of collaboration and innovation. You can read more about our story here!

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