1990s Baby Names

13,313 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
#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
#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 genuinely 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
#77
Cameron Cameron is a name of Scottish origin meaning "crooked nose," from the Gaelic cam, crooked, and sròn, nose.
87,799 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

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.