1990s Baby Names

38,764 names were given to children in the United States between 1990 and 1999, ranked below by how many.

A name's place is its total across those ten years. Names that appear in only some of the decade say so, because a name recorded once is a different fact from one recorded every year.

All Girls Boys Unisex

Rankings for

#1
Michael Michael is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "who is like God?" — a rhetorical question expecting the answer that no one is.
464,400 in the 1990s
#2
Christopher Christopher is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "bearer of Christ," from Christos and pherein, to carry.
361,334 in the 1990s
#3
Matthew Matthew is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "gift of Yahweh," from Mattityahu.
352,417 in the 1990s
#4
Joshua Joshua is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "Yahweh is salvation," from Yehoshua.
330,123 in the 1990s
#5
Jessica Jessica is a girl's name invented by Shakespeare for The Merchant of Venice in 1596.
303,905 in the 1990s
#6
Ashley Ashley is a name of Old English origin meaning "ash tree clearing."
303,144 in the 1990s
#7
Jacob Jacob is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "supplanter" or "holder of the heel," from Ya'aqov.
299,007 in the 1990s
#8
Nicholas Nicholas is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "victory of the people," from nike, victory, and laos, the people.
275,952 in the 1990s
#9
Andrew Andrew is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "manly" or "brave," from andreios, from aner, a man.
273,620 in the 1990s
#10
Daniel Daniel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my judge," from Daniyyel.
273,481 in the 1990s
#11
Tyler Tyler is a boy's name from a medieval trade — a man who laid roof tiles — and the leader of the Peasants' Revolt carried it as a job description.
270,737 in the 1990s
#12
Joseph Joseph is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add," from Yosef.
261,388 in the 1990s
#13
Brandon Brandon is a boy's name from an English place name meaning broom-covered hill, often confused with the Irish Brendan.
260,180 in the 1990s
#14
David David is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "beloved," from Dawid.
254,460 in the 1990s
#15
James James is a boy's name of Hebrew origin, an English form of Jacob by way of Late Latin Iacomus.
245,648 in the 1990s
#16
Ryan Ryan is a boy's name of Irish origin, anglicized from Ó Riain.
245,245 in the 1990s
#17
John John is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "Yahweh is gracious," from Yochanan.
240,645 in the 1990s
#18
Emily Emily is a girl's name of Latin origin, from the Roman family name Aemilius.
237,646 in the 1990s
#19
Taylor Taylor is an occupational surname meaning one who cuts cloth, now used mostly for girls at 72 percent female.
227,448 in the 1990s
#20
Zachary Zachary is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "the Lord has remembered."
225,757 in the 1990s
#21
Sarah Sarah is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "princess" or "noblewoman."
224,781 in the 1990s
#22
Samantha Samantha is a girl's name of uncertain origin, first recorded in America in the eighteenth century.
224,384 in the 1990s
#23
Justin Justin is a boy's name from the Latin for just or righteous.
220,879 in the 1990s
#24
William William is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "resolute protection," from wil, meaning will or desire, and helm, meaning helmet.
218,261 in the 1990s
#25
Anthony Anthony is a boy's name from the Roman family name Antonius, whose meaning is unknown — it is probably Etruscan rather than Latin.
216,984 in the 1990s
#26
Jordan Jordan is a name from the river, whose Hebrew name Yarden means "to descend" or "flow down" — the Jordan drops sharply from its source to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on the earth's land surface.
206,513 in the 1990s
#27
Robert Robert is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "bright fame," from hrod, fame, and beraht, bright.
205,996 in the 1990s
#28
Jonathan Jonathan is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "Yahweh has given," from Yehonatan.
198,129 in the 1990s
#29
Austin Austin is a boy's name that began as a medieval English contraction of Augustine, meaning "venerable" or "majestic," from the Latin augustus.
191,674 in the 1990s
#30
Amanda Amanda is a girl's name from the Latin for she who must be loved, and one of the few names on this site that can be dated to a specific literary invention — Colley Cibber used it for a character in his 1696 play Love's Last Shift.
191,521 in the 1990s
#31
Brittany Brittany is a girl's name taken from the French region, which is named for British settlers who crossed the Channel in late antiquity.
191,186 in the 1990s
#32
Alexander Alexander is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "defender of men," from alexein, to defend, and aner, man.
185,413 in the 1990s
#33
Kyle Kyle is a boy's name of Scottish Gaelic origin meaning "narrow strait," taken from a district of Ayrshire.
181,612 in the 1990s
#34
Elizabeth Elizabeth is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my oath," from Elisheva, the name of Aaron's wife in the Book of Exodus.
173,146 in the 1990s
#35
Kevin Kevin is a boy's name of Irish origin meaning "gentle birth," and its saint founded Glendalough and by tradition lived to 120.
165,731 in the 1990s
#36
Megan Megan is a girl's name, the Welsh pet form of Margaret, from a Greek word for pearl that reached Europe from Persian.
160,642 in the 1990s
#37
Hannah Hannah is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "grace" or "favor," from Channah.
159,027 in the 1990s
#38
Kayla Kayla is a girl's name with no established etymology, an American coinage of the 1950s that a soap opera turned into a top-name.
156,123 in the 1990s
#39
Lauren Lauren is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "laurel," which became a women's name because a film studio invented one.
154,043 in the 1990s
#40
Stephanie Stephanie is a girl's name from the Greek for crown or garland, the feminine of Stephen.
150,367 in the 1990s
#41
Rachel Rachel is a girl's name from Hebrew meaning ewe, borne by Jacob's wife in Genesis.
149,427 in the 1990s
#42
Jennifer Jennifer is a girl's name, the Cornish form of the Welsh Gwenhwyfar, the name of King Arthur's queen.
148,527 in the 1990s
#43
Cody Cody is a boy's name of Irish origin, anglicising Ó Cuidighthigh, meaning "descendant of the helpful one."
147,930 in the 1990s
#44
Alexis Alexis is a Greek name meaning helper or defender, and it is split by country: a boys' name in France, where it ranks 256th, and majority female in the United States.
147,461 in the 1990s
#45
Thomas Thomas is a boy's name of Aramaic origin meaning "twin," from te'oma.
146,924 in the 1990s
#46
Nicole Nicole is a girl's name, the French feminine of Nicholas, meaning victory of the people.
136,383 in the 1990s
#47
Eric Eric is a boy's name of Old Norse origin meaning "eternal ruler" or "sole ruler."
135,708 in the 1990s
#48
Benjamin Benjamin is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "son of the right hand," from Binyamin.
134,207 in the 1990s

What Made a 1990s Name

Children in the United States were registered with it between 1990 and 1999. A name's position here is how many of them were.

Why Some Names Only Cover Part of the Decade

A name that appears in three of the ten years either arrived partway through or faded out — and either is more interesting than the total on its own. The statistics offices do not publish names given to very few children in a year, so a gap can also mean the count dropped below the threshold rather than to nothing.

Where to Go Next

Open any name to see its full curve — most of these have a hundred and forty years of it. Or compare the ends of the same measurement: the most popular names now and the rarest.