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

#409
Carl Carl is a boy's name from the Germanic word for a free man, the same root as Charles.
14,730 in the 1990s
#410
Trenton Trenton means Trent's town, and the Trent is a man rather than the English river — William Trent bought the land in 1714, and the New Jersey city was named for him, not for the water.
14,709 in the 1990s
#411
Jeffery Jeffery is a boy's name whose first element is genuinely disputed, though the second means peace.
14,685 in the 1990s
#412
Raul Raul means wolf counsel, and it is the same name as Ralph and Rudolph — one Norse compound that entered Spanish, English and German separately and ended up looking like three different names.
14,680 in the 1990s
#413
Sebastian Sebastian is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "from Sebaste," a city whose name derives from sebastos, meaning venerable or august.
14,664 in the 1990s
#416
Zachery
14,599 in the 1990s
#420
Louis Louis is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "famous warrior."
14,494 in the 1990s
#422
Rafael Rafael is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God heals."
14,491 in the 1990s
#424
Marc Marc is a boy's name from a Roman name probably meaning dedicated to Mars, the god of war, and it is the source of the month of March.
14,347 in the 1990s
#426
Emmanuel Emmanuel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is with us."
14,268 in the 1990s
#427
Jimmy Jimmy is a boy's name, the pet form of James, meaning supplanter.
14,173 in the 1990s
#430
Albert Albert is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "noble and bright."
13,986 in the 1990s
#432
Danny Danny is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my judge," a diminutive of Daniel.
13,945 in the 1990s
#433
Julio Julio means downy-bearded, and France ranks it 517th — above the United States at 641st, which is not where a Spanish form of a Roman family name would be expected to lead.
13,941 in the 1990s
#436
Harrison Harrison is a boy's name of English origin meaning "son of Harry."
13,837 in the 1990s
#437
Kristopher Kristopher means Christ-bearer, and the legend built the meaning backward — a giant who carried a child across a river turned out to be carrying Christ, which is the story explaining the name.
13,815 in the 1990s
#439
Russell Russell is a boy's name from a Norman nickname meaning little red, given to someone red-haired or ruddy.
13,776 in the 1990s
#440
Armando Armando means army man, and it is the same name as Herman — one Germanic compound that reached Spanish through the Visigoths and English through the Normans, ending up unrecognisably different.
13,772 in the 1990s
#444
Chance Chance means a falling, and the falling was dice — the Old French cheance describes how they land, from the Latin cadere, to fall, which also gives cadence, decay and accident.
13,593 in the 1990s
#445
Gerardo Gerardo means brave with a spear, and both halves are weapons talk — the Germanic joins the word for a spear to one meaning hardy, which is the same ger that hides inside garlic.
13,578 in the 1990s
#447
Ricky Ricky is a boy's name, the pet form of Richard or Ricardo, meaning strong ruler.
13,546 in the 1990s
#448
Diego Diego is a boy's name of Hebrew origin, the Spanish form of James.
13,522 in the 1990s
#450
Gage Gage means a pledge, and it names the object rather than the person — the thing handed over as security.
13,278 in the 1990s
#453
Lawrence Lawrence is a boy's name meaning from Laurentum, an ancient Italian town linked to the laurel.
13,203 in the 1990s
#455
Conner Conner means desiring hounds rather than loving them — the Irish joins a word for a hound or wolf to one meaning desire, and the softer lover of hounds gloss smooths over what was a warrior's name.
13,172 in the 1990s
#456
Alberto Alberto means bright nobility, and both halves are compliments — the Germanic joins a word for noble descent to one meaning bright or famous, with nothing descriptive about the person at all.
13,166 in the 1990s
#459
Abraham Abraham is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "father of many."
13,060 in the 1990s
#460
Micheal Micheal is a boy's name of Hebrew origin whose full form is a rhetorical question — who is like God?
13,018 in the 1990s
#468
Damian Damian is a boy's name of Greek origin, from damao, meaning to tame or subdue.
12,750 in the 1990s
#471
Landon Landon is a boy's name of English origin meaning "long hill," from the Old English lang, long, and dun, a hill or down.
12,684 in the 1990s
#473
Trey Trey means three, and it is a card and dice word — the trey is the three-spot, which is why the name attached itself to sons who were the third to carry a family name.
12,671 in the 1990s
#474
Darren Darren has no established origin — it appears in twentieth-century America with no traceable parent, and the Irish and Gaelic derivations offered for it were attached after the fact.
12,562 in the 1990s
#475
Andy Andy means manly, and the Greek root is the ordinary word for a man — so Andrew is one of the few apostles carrying a Greek name rather than a Hebrew or Aramaic one.
12,421 in the 1990s
#476
Donovan Donovan means dark brown, and the Irish surname behind it belonged to a king who backed the wrong side — the Uí Donnabháin lost their lands after opposing Brian Boru in the tenth century.
12,302 in the 1990s
#478
Carson Carson is a name of Scottish and Irish origin meaning "son of Carr."
12,214 in the 1990s
#479
Rodney Rodney is a boy's name from an English place name, and its rise as a given name follows a single admiral — George Rodney, who broke the French line at the Saintes in 1782.
12,149 in the 1990s
#480
Lance Lance does not mean a spear.
12,112 in the 1990s
#482
Walter Walter is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning ruler of the army.
12,058 in the 1990s
#485
Joe Joe is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add," a short form of Joseph that has become the English word for an ordinary person.
11,983 in the 1990s
#488
Liam Liam is a boy's name of Irish origin, a short form of Uilliam, the Irish version of William.
11,919 in the 1990s
#489
Marcos Marcos means dedicated to Mars, and the god behind it was not only a war god — Mars presided over agriculture too, which is coherent once you notice that farming and fighting were the same men's seasonal work.
11,856 in the 1990s
#491
Enrique Enrique means ruler of the estate, and the home in it is territorial rather than domestic — the Germanic element named the land a lord held, not the house he lived in.
11,833 in the 1990s
#492
Arthur Arthur is a boy's name of disputed origin.
11,822 in the 1990s
#493
Nolan Nolan is a boy's name of Irish origin, anglicized from Ó Nualláin.
11,821 in the 1990s
#495
Jalen Jalen was invented for one child and spread from there — the usual account has a father building it from James and Leonard, and the calm and serenity meanings offered online are attached to that coinage.
11,709 in the 1990s
#497
Todd Todd is a boy's name from a northern English dialect word for a fox, given as a nickname to someone crafty or red-haired.
11,631 in the 1990s
#499
Bobby Bobby is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "bright fame."
11,594 in the 1990s
#504
Trent Trent means the trespasser, and it is a warning rather than a description — the English river was named for its habit of flooding across its banks and cutting new channels.
11,503 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.