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

#145
Jamie Jamie is a unisex name of Hebrew origin, a Scottish diminutive of James meaning "supplanter" or "holder of the heel."
50,531 in the 1990s
#146
Cassandra Cassandra is a girl's name from Greek myth, borne by a prophet cursed to see the future and never be believed.
50,448 in the 1990s
#147
Gabrielle Gabrielle is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my strength," the French feminine of Gabriel.
50,049 in the 1990s
#148
Shannon Shannon is a name from Ireland's longest river, and it is 86 percent female in our records.
49,758 in the 1990s
#149
Jesus Jesus is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "the Lord is salvation."
49,635 in the 1990s
#150
Katie Katie is a girl's name of Greek origin, a diminutive of Katherine whose meaning has never been settled.
49,527 in the 1990s
#151
Lindsey Lindsey is a girl's name from a district of Lincolnshire, and it originally meant an island — Lindsey was cut off by marsh and river, so the wetland reading and the island reading describe the same place.
49,402 in the 1990s
#152
Scott Scott is a boy's name meaning a Scot, from the surname given to people from Scotland.
49,133 in the 1990s
#153
Caitlin Caitlin is a girl's name of Greek origin, the Irish form of Katherine, and its English mispronunciation generated a whole family of new names.
49,128 in the 1990s
#154
Destiny Destiny is a word name meaning a fixed future, and its root is a verb about standing firm — the Latin destinare means to make fast or fix in place, so the idea is settled rather than foreseen.
48,406 in the 1990s
#155
Bradley Bradley is a boy's name from an English place name meaning broad meadow.
48,280 in the 1990s
#156
Blake Blake is a name of Old English origin with two opposite meanings.
47,797 in the 1990s
#157
Kathryn Kathryn is a girl's name, the y-spelling of Katherine, and it inherits that name's genuinely unknown meaning.
47,237 in the 1990s
#158
Antonio Antonio is a boy's name of Etruscan origin whose meaning is unknown.
46,791 in the 1990s
#159
Marcus Marcus is a boy's name of Latin origin most likely meaning "of Mars," and it was one of only about eighteen first names Roman men used.
46,640 in the 1990s
#160
Jacqueline Jacqueline is a girl's name, the French feminine of Jacques, and it inherits the meaning supplanter from Jacob.
46,108 in the 1990s
#161
Jenna Jenna is a girl's name that began as an elaboration of Jenny and is now used independently.
45,909 in the 1990s
#162
Garrett Garrett means spear-strength or spear-rule, and it descends from two different Germanic names that medieval English speakers could no longer tell apart.
45,464 in the 1990s
#163
Angela Angela is a girl's name from the Greek for messenger, the word that also gives us angel.
45,312 in the 1990s
#164
Edward Edward is a boy's name of Old English origin meaning "wealthy guardian."
45,288 in the 1990s
#165
Savannah Savannah is a girl's name of Taino origin meaning "treeless plain."
44,755 in the 1990s
#166
Mariah Mariah shows the sharpest single-artist effect in our data.
44,684 in the 1990s
#167
Adrian Adrian is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "from Hadria," a town in northern Italy that also gave its name to the Adriatic Sea.
44,656 in the 1990s
#168
Luke Luke is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "man from Lucania," a region of southern Italy.
44,527 in the 1990s
#169
Alexandria Alexandria is the city before it is the name — Alexander founded it in 331 BC, and the feminine given name was formed from the place rather than directly from Alexandra, which took a different route.
44,183 in the 1990s
#170
Sierra Sierra means a mountain range, and the Spanish word is literally a saw — ranges were named for the jagged sawtooth profile they cut against the sky.
43,746 in the 1990s
#171
Alicia Alicia is a girl's name of Germanic origin meaning "noble," a Latinate form of Alice.
43,592 in the 1990s
#172
Shawn Shawn is a boy's name, the phonetic American respelling of the Irish Seán, which is itself the Irish form of John.
43,546 in the 1990s
#173
Briana Briana is a feminine of Brian, and it first appears in Spenser's Faerie Queene in 1590 — which makes it one of very few names whose earliest recorded use is a specific poem.
42,904 in the 1990s
#174
Peter Peter is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "rock."
42,501 in the 1990s
#175
Seth Seth is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "appointed" or "placed," given to Adam and Eve's third son after Cain killed Abel.
42,316 in the 1990s
#176
Miranda Miranda was coined by Shakespeare for The Tempest around 1611, from the Latin for to be wondered at.
42,275 in the 1990s
#177
Mitchell Mitchell is a boy's name from a medieval English form of Michael, meaning who is like God — though a second and quite separate source exists from an old word simply meaning big.
42,222 in the 1990s
#178
Bailey Bailey is a name of Old French origin meaning "bailiff" or "steward."
41,547 in the 1990s
#179
Chase Chase is a boy's name of Old French origin meaning "huntsman."
41,406 in the 1990s
#180
Miguel Miguel is a boy's name meaning who is like God, the Spanish and Portuguese form of Michael.
41,284 in the 1990s
#181
Victor Victor is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "conqueror."
41,284 in the 1990s
#182
Shane Shane is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is gracious," and it exists because English speakers wrote down how Ulster pronounced Seán.
41,152 in the 1990s
#183
Catherine Catherine is a girl's name of Greek origin whose meaning is genuinely unknown — the familiar reading of pure is a later reshaping, not the original sense.
40,843 in the 1990s
#184
Isaac Isaac is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he laughs," from Yitzhak.
40,387 in the 1990s
#185
Brittney Brittney means from Brittany, and Brittany means from Britain — so the name records Britons who fled to France, making it a British name that came home by way of Normandy and a respelling.
40,100 in the 1990s
#186
Breanna Breanna is a feminine of Brian invented in twentieth-century America, and Brian's own meaning is not settled — high or noble is the usual reading and it has never been established.
40,056 in the 1990s
#187
Grace Grace is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "favor" or "blessing," from gratia.
39,925 in the 1990s
#188
Spencer Spencer is a name of Middle English origin meaning "steward" or "dispenser of provisions."
39,491 in the 1990s
#189
Mackenzie Mackenzie means son of Coinneach, and the missing sound is the point — the Gaelic ends in a soft ch that English cannot spell, so the anglicized ending was written as a z that was never pronounced as one.
39,303 in the 1990s
#190
Monica Monica is a girl's name whose meaning is genuinely unknown, and whose saint — the mother of Augustine — came from Roman North Africa, so the name may be Berber rather than Latin or Greek at all.
39,060 in the 1990s
#191
Sabrina Sabrina is the Latin name of the River Severn, and the legend behind it is a drowning — a princess thrown into the river became its spirit.
38,747 in the 1990s
#192
Tanner Tanner names one of the most unpleasant medieval trades — tanneries used urine and dog feces to cure hides, and were forced to the downwind edge of every town by law as well as by smell.
38,267 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.