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 genuinely 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 genuinely 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

Nothing about the sound of it. A name is on this page because children in the United States were registered with it between 1990 and 1999, and its position is simply how many. Every list of "1990s names" you will find elsewhere is somebody's sense of the period; this one is the register.

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.