Top 20 baby names by decade

Posted in Popular Baby Names.

Australia's most popular baby names by decade

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.

  1. Jennifer
  2. Susan
  3. Christine
  4. Julie
  5. Margaret
  6. Helen
  7. Judith
  8. Lynette
  9. Robyn
  10. Elizabeth
  11. Anne
  12. Karen
  13. Wendy
  14. Pamela
  15. Heather
  16. Mary
  17. Sandra
  18. Cheryl
  19. Dianne
  20. Patricia
  1. Peter
  2. John
  3. Robert
  4. David
  5. Michael
  6. Stephen
  7. Ian
  8. Gregory
  9. Paul
  10. Gary
  11. Mark
  12. Geoffrey
  13. Christopher
  14. Anthony
  15. William
  16. Wayne
  17. Graeme
  18. Brian
  19. Kenneth
  20. 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.

  1. Susan
  2. Jennifer
  3. Karen
  4. Michelle
  5. Julie
  6. Lisa
  7. Sharon
  8. Leanne
  9. Maria
  10. Helen
  11. Debra
  12. Elizabeth
  13. Joanne
  14. Christine
  15. Catherine
  16. Wendy
  17. Sandra
  18. Linda
  19. Tracey
  20. Kim
  21. Robyn
  1. David
  2. Peter
  3. Michael
  4. Mark
  5. Andrew
  6. Paul
  7. John
  8. Robert
  9. Stephen
  10. Anthony
  11. Darren
  12. Craig
  13. Christopher
  14. Gregory
  15. Steven
  16. Wayne
  17. James
  18. Richard
  19. Ian
  20. 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.

  1. Michelle
  2. Nicole
  3. Lisa
  4. Melissa
  5. Kylie
  6. Rebecca
  7. Sarah
  8. Amanda
  9. Joanne
  10. Belinda
  11. Fiona
  12. Karen
  13. Samantha
  14. Julie
  15. Natalie
  16. Jodie
  17. Jennifer
  18. Maria
  19. Sharon
  20. Emma
  1. David
  2. Michael
  3. Andrew
  4. Jason
  5. Matthew
  6. Paul
  7. Mark
  8. Christopher
  9. Daniel
  10. Adam
  11. Peter
  12. Scott
  13. Robert
  14. Anthony
  15. John
  16. Steven
  17. Simon
  18. Benjamin
  19. Craig
  20. 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.

  1. Sarah
  2. Jessica
  3. Rebecca
  4. Melissa
  5. Lauren
  6. Emma
  7. Nicole
  8. Amanda
  9. Kate
  10. Laura
  11. Michelle
  12. Amy
  13. Lisa
  14. Stephanie
  15. Samantha
  16. Emily
  17. Natalie
  18. Kylie
  19. Danielle
  20. Erin
  1. Daniel
  2. Matthew
  3. Michael
  4. Christopher
  5. Andrew
  6. David
  7. James
  8. Benjamin
  9. Luke
  10. Adam
  11. Nicholas
  12. Timothy
  13. Mark
  14. Robert
  15. Paul
  16. Joshua
  17. Jason
  18. Steven
  19. Thomas
  20. 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.

  1. Jessica
  2. Sarah
  3. Emily
  4. Stephanie
  5. Emma
  6. Rebecca
  7. Samantha
  8. Lauren
  9. Laura
  10. Georgia
  11. Chloe
  12. Amy
  13. Alexandra
  14. Hannah
  15. Olivia
  16. Rachel
  17. Melissa
  18. Nicole
  19. Kate
  20. Natalie
  1. Matthew
  2. James
  3. Daniel
  4. Joshua
  5. Michael
  6. Thomas
  7. Nicholas
  8. Jack
  9. Benjamin
  10. Luke
  11. Christopher
  12. Jake
  13. Nathan
  14. Andrew
  15. Lachlan
  16. Samuel
  17. Dylan
  18. Mitchell
  19. Alexander
  20. Ryan

2000

A new millennium, and two new contenders for the most popular baby names – Emily and Joshua.

  1. Emily
  2. Jessica
  3. Sarah
  4. Olivia
  5. Georgia
  6. Chloe
  7. Emma
  8. Sophie
  9. Hannah
  10. Isabella
  11. Caitlin
  12. Grace
  13. Samantha
  14. Amy
  15. Lauren
  16. Jasmine
  17. Zoe
  18. Laura
  19. Rebecca
  20. Maddison
  1. Joshua
  2. Jack
  3. Lachlan
  4. Thomas
  5. Matthew
  6. James
  7. Daniel
  8. Nicholas
  9. Benjamin
  10. William
  11. Ryan
  12. Jacob
  13. Samuel
  14. Liam
  15. Luke
  16. Dylan
  17. Michael
  18. Mitchell
  19. Nathan
  20. 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.

  1. Ruby
  2. Isabella
  3. Olivia
  4. Chloe
  5. Charlotte
  6. Mia
  7. Lily
  8. Emily
  9. Ella
  10. Amelia
  11. Ava
  12. Sophie
  13. Sienna
  14. Grace
  15. Zoe
  16. Matilda
  17. Lucy
  18. Jessica
  19. Hannah
  20. Emma
  1. Jack
  2. William
  3. Thomas
  4. Joshua
  5. Oliver
  6. Lachlan
  7. Noah
  8. Cooper
  9. Ethan
  10. James
  11. Lucas
  12. Max
  13. Benjamin
  14. Samuel
  15. Xavier
  16. Alexander
  17. Liam
  18. Charlie
  19. Riley
  20. 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.

  1. Charlotte
  2. Olivia
  3. Amelia
  4. Ava
  5. Mia
  6. Isla
  7. Grace
  8. Harper
  9. Chloe
  10. Willow
  11. Zoe
  12. Ella
  13. Matilda
  14. Emily
  15. Sophie
  16. Ruby
  17. Isabella
  18. Ivy
  19. Evie
  20. Evelyn
  1. Oliver
  2. Jack
  3. William
  4. Noah
  5. Henry
  6. Thomas
  7. Leo
  8. Lucas
  9. James
  10. Liam
  11. Ethan
  12. Harrison
  13. Alexander
  14. Charlie
  15. Mason
  16. Harry
  17. Hunter
  18. Hudson
  19. Elijah
  20. Levi

 

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