2000s Baby Names

16,768 names were given to children in the United States between 2000 and 2009, 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

#282
Nolan Nolan is a boy's name of Irish origin, anglicized from Ó Nualláin.
26,467 in the 2000s
#284
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.
26,432 in the 2000s
#286
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.
26,313 in the 2000s
#289
Peter Peter is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "rock."
26,160 in the 2000s
#290
Damian Damian is a boy's name of Greek origin, from damao, meaning to tame or subdue.
26,063 in the 2000s
#293
Jeffrey Jeffrey is a boy's name from Germanic roots whose first element is disputed, though the second means peace.
25,956 in the 2000s
#294
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.
25,898 in the 2000s
#295
Travis Travis is a boy's name from an occupational surname meaning a toll collector, one who worked at a crossing.
25,766 in the 2000s
#297
Fernando Fernando means bold journey, and it is Germanic rather than Spanish — the Visigoths brought it to Iberia, where it became the royal name of Castile and Aragon and then traveled to the Americas.
25,257 in the 2000s
#298
Conner Conner means desiring hounds rather than loving them — the Irish joins a word for a hound or wolf to one meaning desire, and the softer lover of hounds gloss smooths over what was a warrior's name.
25,117 in the 2000s
#300
Andres Andres is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "manly" or "brave."
24,832 in the 2000s
#301
Javier Javier means the new house, and it is Basque rather than Spanish — Saint Francis Xavier was named for his family's castle at Xabier, so the name is a place that became a surname and then a first name.
24,702 in the 2000s
#302
Shawn Shawn is a boy's name, the phonetic American respelling of the Irish Seán, which is itself the Irish form of John.
24,543 in the 2000s
#303
Giovanni Giovanni is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is gracious," the Italian form of John.
24,443 in the 2000s
#307
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.
24,209 in the 2000s
#311
Jonah Jonah is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "dove," from Yonah.
23,882 in the 2000s
#315
Bradley Bradley is a boy's name from an English place name meaning broad meadow.
23,757 in the 2000s
#317
Cesar Cesar is a boy's name from the Roman family name Caesar, whose own meaning the Romans could not agree on.
23,677 in the 2000s
#318
Emmanuel Emmanuel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is with us."
23,619 in the 2000s
#319
Manuel Manuel is a boy's name meaning God is with us, the Spanish short form of Emmanuel.
23,469 in the 2000s
#327
Edgar Edgar is a boy's name meaning wealthy spear, and it is one of very few Old English names still in wide use.
22,615 in the 2000s
#329
Mario Mario is a boy's name from a Roman family name of uncertain meaning, and the video game character was named after a real landlord — Mario Segale, who owned the warehouse Nintendo rented in Seattle.
22,474 in the 2000s
#330
Erik Erik is a boy's name meaning ever-ruler or sole ruler, from Old Norse.
22,449 in the 2000s
#335
Edwin Edwin is a boy's name from Old English meaning rich friend, borne by a Northumbrian king whose fortress may have given Edinburgh its name.
22,139 in the 2000s
#339
Johnathan Johnathan is a misspelling that became a name — it inserts an h into Jonathan by confusion with John, and the two are different Hebrew names that only look related.
21,965 in the 2000s
#342
Erick Erick means ever-ruler, and the K-spelling is the Scandinavian one — Erik the Red named Greenland deliberately to attract settlers, which may be the earliest recorded use of a misleading brand name.
21,507 in the 2000s
#346
Jalen Jalen was invented for one child and spread from there — the usual account has a father building it from James and Leonard, and the calm and serenity meanings offered online are attached to that coinage.
21,363 in the 2000s
#349
Wesley Wesley is a boy's name of English origin meaning "western meadow," from the Old English west and leah.
21,325 in the 2000s
#351
Jaylen Jaylen has no etymology, and the meanings offered for it contradict each other — healer, tranquil, devoted to Jove and supplanter all appear online, which is what happens when sources fill a blank.
21,030 in the 2000s
#352
Oliver Oliver is a boy's name that entered England with the Normans and has a disputed origin.
20,976 in the 2000s
#353
Trenton Trenton means Trent's town, and the Trent is a man rather than the English river — William Trent bought the land in 1714, and the New Jersey city was named for him, not for the water.
20,936 in the 2000s
#354
Hector Hector is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "holding fast," borne by the Trojan prince who is the most sympathetic figure in the Iliad.
20,897 in the 2000s
#355
Malachi Malachi is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "my messenger."
20,892 in the 2000s
#361
Raymond Raymond is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning counsel and protection.
20,486 in the 2000s
#365
Gregory Gregory is a boy's name from the Greek for watchful or alert.
20,097 in the 2000s
#367
Colby Colby is a boy's name of Norse origin meaning "Koli's farm," from villages in the English Danelaw.
20,040 in the 2000s
#368
Abraham Abraham is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "father of many."
19,895 in the 2000s
#370
Jaiden Jaiden belongs to the -aiden rhyming family invented in America in the 1990s, and the Hebrew meanings offered for it are attached to a coinage — thankful one and God will judge cannot both be right.
19,767 in the 2000s
#373
Elias Elias is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "my God is Yahweh."
19,660 in the 2000s
#375
Leonardo Leonardo is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "brave as a lion," from leo, lion, and hard, brave or hardy.
19,533 in the 2000s
#376
Sergio Sergio means servant, from a Roman family name that is probably Etruscan — and Virgil gave the Sergii a Trojan ancestor, which is the Aeneid doing genealogical work for Rome's aristocracy.
19,476 in the 2000s
#378
Donovan Donovan means dark brown, and the Irish surname behind it belonged to a king who backed the wrong side — the Uí Donnabháin lost their lands after opposing Brian Boru in the tenth century.
19,389 in the 2000s
#379
Bryson Bryson is a boy's name of Scottish origin meaning "son of Brice."
19,168 in the 2000s
#380
Marco Marco means dedicated to Mars, and it has the tightest seven-market spread on this site — the United States 370th, Ireland and England both 467th, Scotland 477th, Northern Ireland 501st and France 502nd, all inside 132 places.
19,152 in the 2000s
#386
Martin Martin is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "of Mars," borne by Saint Martin of Tours, whose cloak gave Europe the word chapel.
18,793 in the 2000s
#388
Clayton Clayton means the settlement on clay, from an English place name that describes the ground it stood on.
18,735 in the 2000s
#390
Damien Damien is a boy's name meaning to tame, and its saint was a Belgian priest who chose to live in a leper colony and died of the disease.
18,567 in the 2000s
#391
Josue Josue is the same name as Jesus, not merely a relative of it — both descend from the Hebrew Yehoshua, and Greek translators simply rendered it two different ways in two different books.
18,364 in the 2000s

What Made a 2000s Name

Children in the United States were registered with it between 2000 and 2009. 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.