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US baby names · the 1990s

Most popular baby names of the 1990s

These are the most given US names of the 1990s, adding up Social Security counts for each year from 1990 to 1999. Across those years SSA recorded 18,005,347 girls and 19,479,791 boys under names given to five or more babies.

Jessica led the girls with 303,136 babies, followed by Ashley, Emily and Sarah. For boys, Michael came first with 462,466, ahead of Christopher, Matthew and Joshua.

Against the top 100 of the 1980s, 33 girls’ names and 24 boys’ names in the 1990s are newcomers (girls: Taylor, Alexis, Brianna; boys: Dylan, Cameron, Ethan). Of these names, 15 of the 100 girls’ names and 38 of the 100 boys’ names are still in the top 100 in 2025.

A decade total favours names that were steady for ten years over a single-year spike, so a list here can differ from any one year’s top 100. The sparklines show each name before and after the 1990s.

SSA names.zip · Social Security card applications · retrieved 2026-10-05
← 1980s2000s →

Top 100 girls’ names, 1990s

RankNameGirls in decadeBirths per year since 1880
#1Jessica303,136
#2Ashley301,820
#3Emily237,262
#4Sarah224,423
#5Samantha224,023
#6Amanda191,132
#7Brittany190,826
#8Elizabeth172,693
#9Taylor169,040
#10Megan160,375
#11Hannah158,818
#12Kayla155,893
#13Lauren153,590
#14Stephanie149,836
#15Rachel149,167
#16Jennifer148,041
#17Nicole136,103
#18Alexis131,199
#19Victoria117,475
#20Amber115,605
#21Alyssa115,255
#22Courtney113,290
#23Rebecca109,721
#24Danielle109,597
#25Jasmine105,322
#26Brianna99,108
#27Katherine96,885
#28Alexandra94,806
#29Madison91,907
#30Morgan91,196
#31Melissa89,990
#32Michelle86,532
#33Kelsey85,134
#34Chelsea84,805
#35Anna78,595
#36Kimberly77,879
#37Tiffany77,534
#38Olivia75,913
#39Mary75,723
#40Christina74,660
#41Allison74,433
#42Abigail72,779
#43Sara72,170
#44Shelby71,995
#45Heather71,626
#46Haley71,197
#47Maria70,911
#48Kaitlyn67,567
#49Laura67,253
#50Erin65,335
#51Andrea65,246
#52Natalie63,382
#53Jordan61,757
#54Brooke60,630
#55Julia59,954
#56Emma58,252
#57Vanessa57,920
#58Erica55,762
#59Sydney55,756
#60Kelly55,724
#61Kristen53,075
#62Katelyn52,811
#63Marissa51,214
#64Amy51,167
#65Crystal51,098
#66Paige50,552
#67Cassandra50,364
#68Gabrielle49,818
#69Katie49,468
#70Caitlin49,033
#71Lindsey48,975
#72Destiny48,238
#73Kathryn47,179
#74Jacqueline45,948
#75Shannon45,912
#76Jenna45,856
#77Angela45,171
#78Savannah44,716
#79Mariah44,603
#80Alexandria44,095
#81Sierra43,638
#82Alicia43,488
#83Briana42,801
#84Miranda42,225
#85Jamie41,441
#86Catherine40,763
#87Brittney40,030
#88Breanna40,026
#89Grace39,872
#90Monica38,895
#91Sabrina38,664
#92Madeline36,967
#93Caroline36,827
#94Molly36,567
#95Erika35,076
#96Mackenzie34,778
#97Leah34,099
#98Diana33,784
#99Whitney32,886
#100Cheyenne31,849

Top 100 boys’ names, 1990s

RankNameBoys in decadeBirths per year since 1880
#1Michael462,466
#2Christopher360,287
#3Matthew351,682
#4Joshua329,192
#5Jacob298,415
#6Nicholas275,329
#7Andrew272,941
#8Daniel272,360
#9Tyler262,320
#10Joseph260,751
#11Brandon259,420
#12David253,711
#13James244,980
#14Ryan241,248
#15John240,151
#16Zachary225,290
#17Justin220,135
#18William217,822
#19Anthony216,231
#20Robert205,459
#21Jonathan197,503
#22Austin190,140
#23Alexander183,952
#24Kyle180,218
#25Kevin165,232
#26Thomas146,638
#27Cody146,486
#28Jordan144,756
#29Eric135,244
#30Benjamin133,939
#31Aaron128,377
#32Christian126,065
#33Samuel125,597
#34Dylan122,074
#35Steven121,110
#36Brian119,309
#37Jose119,042
#38Timothy107,772
#39Nathan107,332
#40Adam106,909
#41Richard94,876
#42Patrick92,931
#43Charles92,434
#44Sean92,003
#45Jason91,731
#46Cameron81,131
#47Jeremy77,794
#48Mark75,816
#49Stephen75,160
#50Jesse73,791
#51Juan70,919
#52Alex70,830
#53Travis68,208
#54Jeffrey66,987
#55Ethan66,930
#56Caleb66,298
#57Luis64,761
#58Jared63,792
#59Logan63,577
#60Hunter60,524
#61Trevor59,943
#62Bryan59,751
#63Evan59,396
#64Paul58,931
#65Taylor58,408
#66Kenneth58,254
#67Connor57,391
#68Dustin56,768
#69Noah56,269
#70Carlos55,185
#71Devin55,072
#72Gabriel54,819
#73Ian54,007
#74Nathaniel52,577
#75Gregory52,090
#76Derek50,756
#77Corey50,223
#78Jesus49,129
#79Scott49,019
#80Bradley48,086
#81Dakota46,649
#82Antonio46,546
#83Marcus46,497
#84Blake45,873
#85Garrett45,326
#86Edward45,164
#87Luke44,434
#88Shawn42,483
#89Peter42,394
#90Seth42,213
#91Mitchell42,015
#92Adrian41,982
#93Victor41,072
#94Miguel41,009
#95Shane40,598
#96Chase40,311
#97Isaac40,271
#98Spencer38,182
#99Lucas38,178
#100Jack37,501