This list combines 3,118 spelling variations into 1,008 grouped names based on shared pronunciations. The most popular name in 1980 is Michael, given to 71,301 babies in total. Learn more about how this works.

Nicholas has the most spelling variations with 35 different spellings, while Jerrell has the highest confusion index at 85.9%, indicating the greatest diversity in how parents choose to spell it.

When combining spelling variations, Tremaine showed the biggest improvement, moving up 206 positions from 581 to 375, while Timothy had the largest drop, falling 4 positions from 20 to 24.

Looking at trends, Zebulon shows the strongest upward momentum (births in 1978–1980 are 747.95% higher compared to 1971–1980), while Tim shows the steepest decline (77.87% lower). Compared to 1979, Dusty had the largest rank improvement, moving up 142 positions to rank #324, while Lavar fell 68 positions to rank #459.