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Most popular baby names of the 1990s

In the 1990s, the most popular name for girls born in the U.S. was Jessica, given to 303,136 girls, about 1 in 59 girls born that decade. For boys it was Michael, given to 462,466, about 1 in 42 boys.

Together, the top 20 girls’ names went to 20% of girls born in the 1990s, and the top 20 boys’ names to 28% of boys.

Top girls’ names

Top girls’ names of the 1990s
RankNameBabiesShare
#1Jessica303,1361 in 59
#2Ashley301,8201 in 60
#3Emily237,2621 in 76
#4Sarah224,4231 in 80
#5Samantha224,0231 in 80
#6Amanda191,1321 in 94
#7Brittany190,8261 in 94
#8Elizabeth172,6931 in 100
#9Taylor169,0401 in 110
#10Megan160,3751 in 110
#11Hannah158,8181 in 110
#12Kayla155,8931 in 120
#13Lauren153,5901 in 120
#14Stephanie149,8361 in 120
#15Rachel149,1671 in 120
#16Jennifer148,0411 in 120
#17Nicole136,1031 in 130
#18Alexis131,1991 in 140
#19Victoria117,4751 in 150
#20Amber115,6051 in 160

Top boys’ names

Top boys’ names of the 1990s
RankNameBabiesShare
#1Michael462,4661 in 42
#2Christopher360,2871 in 54
#3Matthew351,6821 in 55
#4Joshua329,1921 in 59
#5Jacob298,4151 in 65
#6Nicholas275,3291 in 71
#7Andrew272,9411 in 71
#8Daniel272,3601 in 72
#9Tyler262,3201 in 74
#10Joseph260,7511 in 75
#11Brandon259,4201 in 75
#12David253,7111 in 77
#13James244,9801 in 80
#14Ryan241,2481 in 81
#15John240,1511 in 81
#16Zachary225,2901 in 86
#17Justin220,1351 in 88
#18William217,8221 in 89
#19Anthony216,2311 in 90
#20Robert205,4591 in 95

What changed

8 of the decade’s top 20 girls’ names were not in the top 20 of the 1980s: Emily, Samantha, Brittany, Taylor, Hannah, Kayla, Alexis and Victoria. 3 of the decade’s top 20 boys’ names were not in the top 20 of the 1980s: Jacob, Tyler and Zachary.

Each table ranks names by how many babies of that sex got the name across the decade’s years in Social Security’s data, with the share of all babies of that sex it went to. A name links to its own page when it has one, with its births and rank in every year since 1880.

Source: the U.S. Social Security Administration’s national baby name data, from Social Security card applications for babies born in the U.S. A name is left out of a year when fewer than 5 babies of one sex got it, and counts before about 1937 are incomplete, because many people born then never applied for a card. See how Baby Boom builds its data. Figures may contain errors.