Nineties Names

The 1990s peak group. Many are the parents' names now rather than the grandparents', which puts them at the bottom of their curve — the least fashionable a name gets before it starts climbing again.

Rankings for

11 names, rare — 25 to 99 a year, in the United States

Very Rare Rare Uncommon

Girls Boys Unisex

Alissa Alissa means noble, and the flower it resembles was named for rabies — alyssum joins the Greek negative to lyssa, madness, because the plant was believed to cure the bite of a mad dog.
Girl English 99 in 2025
Florian Florian means flowering, from the Latin word for a flower, and England and Wales ranks it 875th — within six places of France at 869th, which is the closest cross-market pairing anywhere in this group.
Boy Latin 54 in 2025
Caitlyn Caitlyn is the third spelling of one name on this site, alongside Caitlin and Kaitlin — all descend from Catherine by way of Old French and Irish, and all three are large enough to hold separate pages.
Girl Irish 71 in 2025
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.
Girl American 69 in 2025
Kirsten Kirsten means a follower of the anointed one, and the anointing is literal — Christ translates the Hebrew mashiach, and both words describe someone smeared with oil at a coronation rather than a divine title.
Girl Scandinavian 60 in 2025
Jodie Jodie peaked in England, not America — 1,354 births in England and Wales in 1996 against a US high of 1,104, which makes it proportionally several times larger there than in the country usually credited with it.
Girl English 53 in 2025
Justine Justine means just or fair, from the Latin word behind justice — and it ranks 407th in France against 3,738th in the United States, which is one of the widest market splits anywhere in this group.
Girl French 40 in 2025
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.
Girl Irish 35 in 2025
Rachael Rachael respells Rachel, meaning ewe, and the animal is the point — Rachel is a shepherd in Genesis, and Jacob works fourteen years for her, which is one of the longest courtships in scripture.
Girl Hebrew 26 in 2025
Marisa Marisa is a blend rather than an inherited name — Italian joined Maria to Luisa, and the result reads as though it means sea, which it does not, since Maria's own meaning is unsettled.
Girl Italian 25 in 2025
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.
Girl American 25 in 2025

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Nineties Names

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