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

#625
Barbara Barbara is a girl's name from the Greek for foreign or strange, the feminine of the word that gives us barbarian.
8,885 in the 1990s
#626
Brennan
8,874 in the 1990s
#627
Frederick Frederick is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "peaceful ruler."
8,863 in the 1990s
#628
Carissa
8,820 in the 1990s
#629
Ruth Ruth is a girl's name of Hebrew origin usually given as "companion" or "friend," though the derivation is not secure.
8,754 in the 1990s
#630
Hillary
8,753 in the 1990s
#631
Eli Eli is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "ascent" or "my God," depending on which Hebrew name it represents.
8,694 in the 1990s
#632
Tiana
8,683 in the 1990s
#633
Salvador Salvador means savior, and it names a country and an ocean crossing — El Salvador is the only nation named directly for Christ, and San Salvador was the first island Columbus reached.
8,658 in the 1990s
#634
Madelyn Madelyn is a girl's name and a modern American respelling of Madeline, which descends from Magdalene — meaning "of Magdala," a town on the Sea of Galilee.
8,640 in the 1990s
#635
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a girl's name taken from the New York borough, whose name comes from the Dutch village of Breukelen.
8,627 in the 1990s
#636
Annie Annie is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "grace" or "favor."
8,620 in the 1990s
#637
Sharon Sharon is a girl's name taken from a place rather than a person — the fertile coastal plain of Sharon in Israel, known from the rose of Sharon in the Song of Songs.
8,603 in the 1990s
#638
Roy Roy is a boy's name with two independent sources — the Gaelic ruadh, meaning red-haired, and the French roi, meaning king.
8,601 in the 1990s
#639
Sadie Sadie is a girl's name that began as a pet form of Sarah, the Hebrew name meaning "princess" or "noblewoman."
8,585 in the 1990s
#640
Tevin
8,584 in the 1990s
#641
Mckenna Mckenna means son of the fire god, and the name is 100 percent female in our records — the Mac is a literal patronymic and Cionaodh names a pre-Christian deity, neither of which has been softened.
8,552 in the 1990s
#642
Demetrius
8,552 in the 1990s
#643
Toni Toni has no established meaning, because Antonia does not — the Roman family name Antonius is probably Etruscan, and the flower reading attached to Anthony is a Renaissance invention.
8,529 in the 1990s
#644
Rose Rose is a girl's name of Latin origin naming the flower, from rosa.
8,508 in the 1990s
#645
Arielle Arielle is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "lion of God".
8,506 in the 1990s
#646
Anastasia Anastasia is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "resurrection."
8,500 in the 1990s
#647
Braden Braden means descendant of the salmon, and the fish is not decorative — the Salmon of Knowledge is the center of one of the best-known Irish stories, in which Fionn gains all wisdom by burning his thumb on it.
8,496 in the 1990s
#648
Sasha Sasha is a unisex name of Greek origin meaning "defender of men," the Russian familiar form of Alexander.
8,490 in the 1990s
#649
Janelle Janelle is an American elaboration rather than an inherited name — Jane with a French-looking ending attached, built in the twentieth century by the same habit that produced Danielle, Rochelle and Michelle.
8,488 in the 1990s
#650
Francis Francis is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "Frenchman" or "free man."
8,460 in the 1990s
#651
Serena Serena has the most evenly spread ranking on this site — Scotland 298th, Ireland 310th, the United States 325th, France 330th and England and Wales 381st, five markets inside 83 places of each other.
8,444 in the 1990s
#652
Carla Carla is a girl's name meaning free man, the Italian and Spanish feminine of Carlo.
8,435 in the 1990s
#653
Pamela Pamela is a girl's name invented by a poet: Sir Philip Sidney coined it for his Arcadia around 1580, apparently from Greek elements meaning all sweetness.
8,428 in the 1990s
#654
Helen Helen is a girl's name from Greek whose meaning is not settled, though torch and shining are the usual readings.
8,425 in the 1990s
#655
Imani
8,412 in the 1990s
#656
Quinn Quinn is a name of Irish origin, anglicized from Ó Cuinn, meaning "descendant of Conn."
8,401 in the 1990s
#657
Kyla Kyla means a narrow strait if it comes from Kyle, and the Scottish word behind that names a specific kind of water — a channel between an island and the mainland, as at Kyle of Lochalsh.
8,379 in the 1990s
#658
Marshall Marshall began as a stable hand — the word meant a horse servant, and it climbed to become the highest rank in several armies.
8,368 in the 1990s
#659
Deja
8,319 in the 1990s
#660
Conor Conor is a boy's name of Irish origin meaning "lover of hounds," from the Irish Conchobhar.
8,302 in the 1990s
#661
Devan
8,284 in the 1990s
#662
Zane Zane peaked in 2018, later than almost any name in this group, and it entered American use as a surname — Zane Grey's westerns carried a family name that traces back to the founder of Zanesville, Ohio.
8,266 in the 1990s
#663
Rene Rene is a name from the Latin for reborn, given at baptism to mark spiritual rebirth.
8,233 in the 1990s
#664
Kameron Kameron means crooked nose, and it is one of very few clan names built on a face — the Scottish cam sròn described a feature, and an entire Highland kindred took it.
8,220 in the 1990s
#665
Fabian Fabian means bean grower, and the general who carried it gave English a word for winning by refusing to fight — Fabian tactics, and the Fabian Society that named itself after his patience.
8,169 in the 1990s
#666
Jakob
8,163 in the 1990s
#667
Liliana Liliana is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "lily," an elaborated form of Lily from lilium.
8,160 in the 1990s
#668
Ernesto Ernesto means serious in the deadly sense — the Germanic eornost named vigor in a fight, and the modern in earnest still keeps that force, meaning for real rather than in play.
8,140 in the 1990s
#669
Dean Dean is a boy's name with two English origins.
8,138 in the 1990s
#670
Quentin Quentin is a boy's name meaning fifth — a Roman birth-order name, given to a fifth child or one born in the fifth month.
8,130 in the 1990s
#671
Griffin Griffin peaked in 2023, more recently than any other name in this group, and it is not named for the beast — the Welsh Gruffudd came first, and the resemblance to the griffin is coincidence.
8,119 in the 1990s
#672
Kellie Kellie has no settled meaning — the Irish Ceallach has been read as bright-headed, as strife, and as one who frequents churches, and the three readings are not close to reconciling.
8,102 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.