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 Hillary is a girl's name meaning "cheerful" or "happy," from the Latin hilaris.
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
Demetrius
8,552 in the 1990s
#642
Mckenna Mckenna means son of the fire god, and the name is 100 percent female on record — the Mac is a literal patronymic and Cionaodh names a pre-Christian deity, neither of which has been softened.
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 Imani is a girl's name in the United States, also used for boys, meaning "faith" or "belief."
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

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.