1990s Baby Names

13,477 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
#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
#17
John John is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "Yahweh is gracious," from Yochanan.
240,645 in the 1990s
#20
Zachary Zachary is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "the Lord has remembered."
225,757 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
#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
#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
#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
#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
#45
Thomas Thomas is a boy's name of Aramaic origin meaning "twin," from te'oma.
146,924 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
#49
Christian Christian is a boy's name from the Latin christianus, meaning "a follower of Christ."
133,584 in the 1990s
#50
Aaron Aaron is a boy's name of Hebrew origin whose meaning is not established.
129,209 in the 1990s
#51
Samuel Samuel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin usually translated as "God has heard," from Shemu'el.
125,906 in the 1990s
#52
Dylan Dylan is a boy's name of Welsh origin meaning "great tide" or "sea," from the elements dy and llanw.
123,713 in the 1990s
#53
Steven Steven is a boy's name from the Greek for crown or garland, and the phonetic respelling of Stephen.
121,467 in the 1990s
#54
Jose Jose is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add," the Spanish and Portuguese form of Joseph.
119,783 in the 1990s
#55
Brian Brian is a boy's name of Irish origin whose meaning is unsettled — noble and high are both proposed, and neither is secure.
119,681 in the 1990s
#62
Timothy Timothy is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "honoring God."
108,015 in the 1990s
#63
Nathan Nathan is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he gave," from Natan.
107,552 in the 1990s
#64
Adam Adam is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "earth" or "ground," from adamah.
107,146 in the 1990s
#69
Richard Richard is a boy's name from Germanic roots meaning strong or brave ruler.
95,174 in the 1990s
#72
Patrick Patrick is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "nobleman."
93,159 in the 1990s
#73
Charles Charles is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "free man," from karl.
92,667 in the 1990s
#74
Sean Sean is a boy's name of Irish origin meaning "God is gracious," the Irish form of John by way of Norman French.
92,590 in the 1990s
#75
Jason Jason is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "healer."
91,994 in the 1990s
#83
Jeremy Jeremy is a boy's name, the medieval English form of Jeremiah, from a Hebrew name generally read as God will exalt.
78,028 in the 1990s
#85
Jesse Jesse is a name of Hebrew origin whose meaning is debated.
77,026 in the 1990s
#87
Mark Mark is a boy's name of Latin origin, most likely meaning "of Mars," borne by the evangelist who wrote the earliest gospel.
76,021 in the 1990s
#89
Stephen Stephen is a boy's name from the Greek for crown or garland, borne by the first Christian martyr.
75,380 in the 1990s
#93
Alex Alex is a name of Greek origin meaning "defender of mankind."
74,307 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.