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 the births in our records 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

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.