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

#193
Lucas Lucas is a boy's name of Latin origin, the Latin form of Luke.
38,242 in the 1990s
#194
Jack Jack is a boy's name of English origin that began as a pet form of John, by way of the medieval nickname Jankin.
37,561 in the 1990s
#195
Madeline Madeline is a girl's name meaning "of Magdala," a fishing town on the Sea of Galilee whose name comes from the Hebrew migdal, a tower.
37,004 in the 1990s
#196
Caroline Caroline is a girl's name of Germanic origin meaning "free man," the French feminine of Charles by way of the Latin Carolus.
36,872 in the 1990s
#197
Vincent Vincent is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "conquering," from vincere, to conquer.
36,805 in the 1990s
#198
Isaiah Isaiah is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "Yahweh is salvation," from Yesha'yahu.
36,756 in the 1990s
#199
Molly Molly is a girl's name of Hebrew origin, a pet form of Mary whose meaning has never been settled — the candidates are "bitter" and "beloved."
36,628 in the 1990s
#200
Devon Devon is the English county, named for the Dumnonii — a Celtic people whose own name may mean the deep ones, possibly referring to mining.
36,230 in the 1990s
#201
Brett Brett means a Breton — someone from Brittany, which is named for the Britons who fled there when the Anglo-Saxons arrived.
36,199 in the 1990s
#202
Dalton Dalton means the settlement in the valley, and Northern Ireland ranks it 305th — above the United States at 448th, which is unexpected for a name whose modern use is almost entirely American.
36,169 in the 1990s
#203
Alejandro Alejandro is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "defender of mankind."
35,528 in the 1990s
#204
George George is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "farmer" or "worker of the earth," from ge, earth, and ergon, work.
35,382 in the 1990s
#205
Cory Cory has at least three unrelated origins — a Norse island name, an Irish surname and a Greek word for a maiden — and English cannot distinguish them.
35,285 in the 1990s
#206
Erika Erika means ever-ruler, the feminine of Erik — and it is also the botanical name for heather, which is a separate Greek word that happens to match.
35,204 in the 1990s
#207
Elijah Elijah is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "my God is Yahweh," from Eliyahu.
34,924 in the 1990s
#208
Dominique Dominique is a French name meaning of the Lord, given to children born on a Sunday.
34,630 in the 1990s
#209
Leah Leah is a girl's name of Hebrew origin whose meaning is disputed, most often given as "weary" but also linked to a word for wild cow.
34,138 in the 1990s
#210
Joel Joel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin that joins two names for God, and the prophet's book supplied the line quoted at Pentecost.
34,056 in the 1990s
#211
Cole Cole is a boy's name of Old English origin meaning "coal-black" or "swarthy."
33,996 in the 1990s
#212
Diana Diana is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "divine" or "heavenly," the Roman goddess of the hunt and the moon.
33,996 in the 1990s
#213
Erik Erik is a boy's name meaning ever-ruler or sole ruler, from Old Norse.
33,721 in the 1990s
#214
Mason Mason is a boy's name of English origin meaning "stone worker."
33,651 in the 1990s
#215
Jake Jake is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "supplanter," a short form of Jacob that became a name in its own right.
33,203 in the 1990s
#216
Whitney Whitney was already climbing before Whitney Houston, and the debut album accelerated it rather than starting it — 1,632 births in 1982, 2,488 by 1984, then 4,068 in 1985 and 9,781 in 1986.
33,188 in the 1990s
#217
Jorge Jorge is the Spanish and Portuguese form of George, meaning farmer.
32,941 in the 1990s
#218
Dillon Dillon has two unrelated sources that English cannot separate — an Irish surname of uncertain meaning and the Welsh Dylan, a sea god from the Mabinogi.
32,839 in the 1990s
#219
Ariel Ariel means lion of God, and The Little Mermaid moved it hard and briefly.
32,804 in the 1990s
#220
Cheyenne Cheyenne is not the Cheyenne people's own name for themselves — it is a Sioux word meaning red speakers, applied from outside.
32,754 in the 1990s
#221
Raymond Raymond is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning counsel and protection.
31,838 in the 1990s
#222
Christine Christine is a girl's name from the Latin for a follower of Christ, the French form of Christina.
31,725 in the 1990s
#223
Lindsay Lindsay and Lindsey are the same place — a district of Lincolnshire that was effectively an island in fen.
31,594 in the 1990s
#224
Meghan Meghan means pearl, through Megan and Margaret, and the h is an American addition — Welsh spells it Megan, and the extra letter appeared in twentieth-century American use with no basis in the original.
31,528 in the 1990s
#225
Cynthia Cynthia is a girl's name that began as a title for the moon goddess — it means she of Mount Cynthus, the peak on Delos where Artemis was said to have been born.
31,471 in the 1990s
#226
Angelica Angelica is both a name and a plant, and the plant is named for the angel — a medieval legend has one reveal it as a cure during plague, which is why it was grown in monastery gardens.
31,426 in the 1990s
#227
Margaret Margaret is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "pearl," from margarites.
31,360 in the 1990s
#228
Kaitlin Kaitlin reached English through Irish, not from it — Catherine went into Old French as Cateline, into Irish as Caitlín, and back out again respelled.
30,852 in the 1990s
#229
Colton Colton is a boy's name of English origin meaning "coal town" or "Cola's settlement," from a place name.
30,536 in the 1990s
#230
Alexa Alexa did not simply collapse when Amazon launched the Echo — it rose first.
30,368 in the 1990s
#231
Hailey Hailey is a girl's name of English origin meaning "hay clearing," from the Old English heg, hay, and leah, a woodland clearing.
30,362 in the 1990s
#232
Veronica Veronica is a girl's name from a Latin phrase meaning true image, and the saint behind it was invented to explain a relic — the cloth came first, and the woman was named after it.
29,963 in the 1990s
#233
Ricardo Ricardo is a boy's name meaning brave ruler, the Spanish and Portuguese form of Richard.
29,446 in the 1990s
#234
Melanie Melanie is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "black" or "dark."
29,444 in the 1990s
#235
Riley Riley is a name with two origins that converged. The Irish line comes from Ó Raghallaigh, an Anglicized surname, while the English line names a place meaning "rye clearing," from the Old English ryge and leah.
29,075 in the 1990s
#236
Francisco Francisco means Frenchman, and Saint Francis was given it as a nickname — his father traded in France and called him the little Frenchman.
28,951 in the 1990s
#237
Leslie Leslie is a Scottish place name turned surname turned given name, and it has crossed sexes: about 71 percent of recorded births are female, though the name began firmly male and remains so in Britain.
28,729 in the 1990s
#238
Wesley Wesley is a boy's name of English origin meaning "western meadow," from the Old English west and leah.
28,645 in the 1990s
#239
Bianca Bianca means white, and France ranks it 242nd — ahead of Ireland at 373rd, the United States at 501st, England and Wales at 548th and Scotland at 742nd.
28,634 in the 1990s
#240
Brendan Brendan is not Irish in origin — it comes from a Welsh word meaning a prince, borrowed into Irish, and its saint is credited with a transatlantic voyage six centuries before Columbus.
28,630 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.