1990s Baby Names

22,091 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

#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
#18
Emily Emily is a girl's name of Latin origin, from the Roman family name Aemilius.
237,646 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
#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
#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
#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
#46
Nicole Nicole is a girl's name, the French feminine of Nicholas, meaning victory of the people.
136,383 in the 1990s
#56
Victoria Victoria is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "victory."
117,721 in the 1990s
#57
Courtney Courtney is a name from a Norman family whose surname is usually read as short nose, though a place-name derivation competes.
116,812 in the 1990s
#58
Amber Amber is a girl's name of Arabic origin meaning "ambergris."
115,825 in the 1990s
#59
Alyssa Alyssa is a girl's name from the flower alyssum, whose Greek name means without madness — the plant was believed to cure rabies.
115,390 in the 1990s
#60
Danielle Danielle is a girl's name, the French feminine of Daniel, from a Hebrew name meaning God is my judge.
109,965 in the 1990s
#61
Rebecca Rebecca is a girl's name of Hebrew origin whose meaning is unsettled, and the standard gloss involves a rope for tying cattle.
109,907 in the 1990s
#65
Jasmine Jasmine is a girl's name of Persian origin taken from the flower, whose name comes from yasmin.
105,748 in the 1990s
#67
Brianna Brianna is a girl's name, the feminine of Brian, whose Irish meaning has never been securely established.
99,269 in the 1990s
#68
Katherine Katherine is a girl's name whose meaning is not settled.
97,053 in the 1990s
#70
Alexandra Alexandra is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "defender of men," and it appears as a title of the goddess Hera before it was ever a personal name.
95,101 in the 1990s
#71
Madison Madison is a name of English origin meaning "son of Maud," a medieval surname formed from the woman's name Maud plus -son.
94,051 in the 1990s
#76
Melissa Melissa is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "bee," and it was the title of the priestesses who served Demeter.
90,255 in the 1990s
#78
Michelle Michelle is a girl's name, the French feminine of Michel, from a Hebrew question meaning who is like God.
86,887 in the 1990s
#79
Kelsey Kelsey is a girl's name from an English place name, and its two proposed meanings — ship's victory and Cenel's island — have nothing in common.
86,599 in the 1990s
#80
Chelsea Chelsea is a girl's name from a London district whose name means chalk landing place — a wharf where chalk was unloaded from boats on the Thames.
84,969 in the 1990s
#81
Anna Anna is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "grace" or "favor," the Greek and Latin form of Hannah.
78,721 in the 1990s
#82
Kimberly Kimberly is a girl's name that reached America by way of a South African diamond town, which was itself named after a British colonial secretary.
78,124 in the 1990s
#84
Tiffany Tiffany is a medieval name meaning manifestation of God, given to girls born at Epiphany — a genuinely old name that now reads as thoroughly modern.
77,722 in the 1990s
#86
Olivia Olivia is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "olive tree," used as the feminine form of Oliver.
76,038 in the 1990s
#88
Mary Mary is a girl's name of Hebrew origin whose meaning has never been settled.
75,920 in the 1990s
#90
Shelby Shelby is a girl's name from an English place name of Norse formation meaning a willow farm.
75,266 in the 1990s
#91
Christina Christina is a girl's name from the Latin for a follower of Christ, and the fullest of the family that includes Christine and Kristina.
75,018 in the 1990s
#92
Allison Allison is a girl's name of Norman French origin, from Alis — the medieval form of Alice — plus a diminutive ending.
74,580 in the 1990s
#94
Abigail Abigail is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "my father's joy," from Avigayil.
72,926 in the 1990s
#95
Sara Sara is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "princess" or "noblewoman."
72,320 in the 1990s
#97
Heather Heather is a girl's name taken directly from the flowering shrub that covers Scottish and northern English moorland.
71,757 in the 1990s
#98
Maria Maria is a girl's name of Hebrew origin, the Latin and Greek form of Miryam.
71,444 in the 1990s
#99
Haley Haley means hay meadow, from an English place name.
71,437 in the 1990s
#102
Kaitlyn Kaitlyn is a girl's name that respells the Irish Caitlín — which came into Irish from French, and into French from Greek.
67,649 in the 1990s
#103
Laura Laura is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "laurel," the tree whose leaves crowned Roman victors and poets.
67,445 in the 1990s
#106
Erin Erin is a girl's name of Irish origin meaning "Ireland."
66,970 in the 1990s
#109
Andrea Andrea is a name meaning "manly" or "brave," from the Greek aner.
65,889 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.