We’ve dusted off the record books and delved head-first into Aussie nostalgia, by collating the most popular baby names in the nation over the past 70 or so years.
Find the decade you, your parents or your grandparents were born and see if their names were popular and in the top 20 back then.
Australia’s most popular baby names by decade
1950
The 1950s was a boom decade for Australia and saw an influx of migrants. American music was a big influence on our culture, and Jennifer and Peter were top of the pops when it came to baby names.
- Jennifer
- Susan
- Christine
- Julie
- Margaret
- Helen
- Judith
- Lynette
- Robyn
- Elizabeth
- Anne
- Karen
- Wendy
- Pamela
- Heather
- Mary
- Sandra
- Cheryl
- Dianne
- Patricia
- Peter
- John
- Robert
- David
- Michael
- Stephen
- Ian
- Gregory
- Paul
- Gary
- Mark
- Geoffrey
- Christopher
- Anthony
- William
- Wayne
- Graeme
- Brian
- Kenneth
- Kevin
1960
This was a decade punctuated by public protests and demonstrations, and the popularity of Elvis and The Beatles wasn’t lost on the Land Down Under. While Jennifer and Peter were still very popular names, they lost their throne to Susan and David.
- Susan
- Jennifer
- Karen
- Michelle
- Julie
- Lisa
- Sharon
- Leanne
- Maria
- Helen
- Debra
- Elizabeth
- Joanne
- Christine
- Catherine
- Wendy
- Sandra
- Linda
- Tracey
- Kim
- Robyn
- David
- Peter
- Michael
- Mark
- Andrew
- Paul
- John
- Robert
- Stephen
- Anthony
- Darren
- Craig
- Christopher
- Gregory
- Steven
- Wayne
- James
- Richard
- Ian
- Shane
1970
A huge decade of change for Australia, Michelle took the top spot as the most popular girl’s name, while David continued its reign for the boys.
- Michelle
- Nicole
- Lisa
- Melissa
- Kylie
- Rebecca
- Sarah
- Amanda
- Joanne
- Belinda
- Fiona
- Karen
- Samantha
- Julie
- Natalie
- Jodie
- Jennifer
- Maria
- Sharon
- Emma
- David
- Michael
- Andrew
- Jason
- Matthew
- Paul
- Mark
- Christopher
- Daniel
- Adam
- Peter
- Scott
- Robert
- Anthony
- John
- Steven
- Simon
- Benjamin
- Craig
- James
1980
Ah, the 80s – loud fashion, loud music and high unemployment as the recession hit. We said hello to two new leaders in the baby name stakes – Sarah and Daniel.
- Sarah
- Jessica
- Rebecca
- Melissa
- Lauren
- Emma
- Nicole
- Amanda
- Kate
- Laura
- Michelle
- Amy
- Lisa
- Stephanie
- Samantha
- Emily
- Natalie
- Kylie
- Danielle
- Erin
- Daniel
- Matthew
- Michael
- Christopher
- Andrew
- David
- James
- Benjamin
- Luke
- Adam
- Nicholas
- Timothy
- Mark
- Robert
- Paul
- Joshua
- Jason
- Steven
- Thomas
- Peter
1990
A decade of change for Australia as we welcomed more migrants into our huge melting pot of cultures. This started to influence the popular name lists, but top of the table were Jessica and Matthew.
- Jessica
- Sarah
- Emily
- Stephanie
- Emma
- Rebecca
- Samantha
- Lauren
- Laura
- Georgia
- Chloe
- Amy
- Alexandra
- Hannah
- Olivia
- Rachel
- Melissa
- Nicole
- Kate
- Natalie
- Matthew
- James
- Daniel
- Joshua
- Michael
- Thomas
- Nicholas
- Jack
- Benjamin
- Luke
- Christopher
- Jake
- Nathan
- Andrew
- Lachlan
- Samuel
- Dylan
- Mitchell
- Alexander
- Ryan
2000
A new millennium, and two new contenders for the most popular baby names – Emily and Joshua.
- Emily
- Jessica
- Sarah
- Olivia
- Georgia
- Chloe
- Emma
- Sophie
- Hannah
- Isabella
- Caitlin
- Grace
- Samantha
- Amy
- Lauren
- Jasmine
- Zoe
- Laura
- Rebecca
- Maddison
- Joshua
- Jack
- Lachlan
- Thomas
- Matthew
- James
- Daniel
- Nicholas
- Benjamin
- William
- Ryan
- Jacob
- Samuel
- Liam
- Luke
- Dylan
- Michael
- Mitchell
- Nathan
- Alexander
2010
Ten years on and Ruby takes her place as the most popular girl’s name, and Jack starts a reign at the top.
- Ruby
- Isabella
- Olivia
- Chloe
- Charlotte
- Mia
- Lily
- Emily
- Ella
- Amelia
- Ava
- Sophie
- Sienna
- Grace
- Zoe
- Matilda
- Lucy
- Jessica
- Hannah
- Emma
- Jack
- William
- Thomas
- Joshua
- Oliver
- Lachlan
- Noah
- Cooper
- Ethan
- James
- Lucas
- Max
- Benjamin
- Samuel
- Xavier
- Alexander
- Liam
- Charlie
- Riley
- Jacob
2018
The most popular 200 Australia baby names of 2018 have revealed some interesting new monikers, but the top two names have remained steadfast for the past few years.
- Charlotte
- Olivia
- Amelia
- Ava
- Mia
- Isla
- Grace
- Harper
- Chloe
- Willow
- Zoe
- Ella
- Matilda
- Emily
- Sophie
- Ruby
- Isabella
- Ivy
- Evie
- Evelyn
- Oliver
- Jack
- William
- Noah
- Henry
- Thomas
- Leo
- Lucas
- James
- Liam
- Ethan
- Harrison
- Alexander
- Charlie
- Mason
- Harry
- Hunter
- Hudson
- Elijah
- Levi
Read next …
Need even more baby name inspiration? Or a way to help decide which name to choose? These next articles will help:
