Most Popular First Names of the 1990s

The top first names registered in the United States between 1990 and 1999, ranked by total births recorded with the Social Security Administration. The sparkline for each name shows how it trended across the 10 years of the decade.

During this decade, the SSA recorded 9,125,295 male and 6,129,458 female births across the top 50 names shown below. Click any name for a full statistical profile.

How to read this table

Each name is ranked by total birth registrations across all 10 years of the 1990s. The Trend column shows a sparkline of annual births within the decade. Hover over any sparkline to see the exact count for each year.

The Change column compares the first year (1990) to the last year (1999). A positive percentage means the name was gaining popularity by the end of the decade. A negative one means it was on the decline.

Top Male Names

9,125,295 births across top 50

# Name Births Trend Change
1 Michael 462,451 -48.1%
2 Christopher 360,280 -51.1%
3 Matthew 351,673 -32.1%
4 Joshua 329,184 -36.9%
5 Jacob 298,410 +60.6%
6 Nicholas 275,326 -8.2%
7 Andrew 272,929 -29.1%
8 Daniel 272,345 -32.9%
9 Tyler 262,308 +9.8%
10 Joseph 260,738 -22.9%
11 Brandon 259,415 -2.5%
12 David 253,712 -39.7%
13 James 244,962 -42.7%
14 Ryan 241,240 -28.2%
15 John 240,147 -30%
16 Zachary 225,280 -2.2%
17 Justin 220,128 -40.4%
18 William 217,818 -16.8%
19 Anthony 216,229 -22.4%
20 Robert 205,454 -49.7%
21 Jonathan 197,500 -29.1%
22 Austin 190,135 +162.4%
23 Alexander 183,943 +7.6%
24 Kyle 180,218 -39.3%
25 Kevin 165,223 -40%
26 Thomas 146,634 -29.8%
27 Cody 146,484 -48.9%
28 Jordan 144,752 -19.1%
29 Eric 135,242 -51.7%
30 Benjamin 133,937 -6.6%
31 Aaron 128,372 -32.3%
32 Christian 126,058 +118%
33 Samuel 125,592 +29%
34 Dylan 122,074 +262.1%
35 Steven 121,104 -59%
36 Brian 119,303 -48%
37 Jose 119,036 +5.5%
38 Timothy 107,767 -51.6%
39 Nathan 107,319 +14.6%
40 Adam 106,906 -44.1%
41 Richard 94,874 -52.1%
42 Patrick 92,932 -47.9%
43 Charles 92,433 -37.3%
44 Sean 92,001 -40%
45 Jason 91,730 -12.4%
46 Cameron 81,134 +86.6%
47 Jeremy 77,794 -57.1%
48 Mark 75,815 -47.6%
49 Stephen 75,164 -62%
50 Jesse 73,790 -44.3%

Top Female Names

6,129,458 births across top 50

# Name Births Trend Change
1 Jessica 303,129 -64.8%
2 Ashley 301,820 -60.2%
3 Emily 237,260 +37%
4 Sarah 224,413 -26%
5 Samantha 224,020 -26.4%
6 Amanda 191,131 -71.7%
7 Brittany 190,822 -78.3%
8 Elizabeth 172,690 -26%
9 Taylor 169,038 +132.8%
10 Megan 160,373 -39.6%
11 Hannah 158,814 +110.8%
12 Kayla 155,892 -24.2%
13 Lauren 153,590 -32.2%
14 Stephanie 149,837 -69.1%
15 Rachel 149,164 -26%
16 Jennifer 148,036 -52.3%
17 Nicole 136,100 -47%
18 Alexis 131,198 +265.9%
19 Victoria 117,474 +30.4%
20 Amber 115,605 -56.9%
21 Alyssa 115,254 +24.6%
22 Courtney 113,289 -57.4%
23 Rebecca 109,717 -45.6%
24 Danielle 109,595 -52.9%
25 Jasmine 105,317 -15.3%
26 Brianna 99,104 +118.6%
27 Katherine 96,885 -31.8%
28 Alexandra 94,802 -4.1%
29 Madison 91,907 +1182.2%
30 Morgan 91,196 +58.9%
31 Melissa 89,989 -65.5%
32 Michelle 86,529 -60.5%
33 Kelsey 85,130 -53.7%
34 Chelsea 84,804 -78.7%
35 Anna 78,591 +25%
36 Kimberly 77,877 -46.5%
37 Tiffany 77,534 -70.5%
38 Olivia 75,913 +143.2%
39 Mary 75,713 -26.3%
40 Christina 74,659 -64%
41 Allison 74,431 -1.5%
42 Abigail 72,777 +214.2%
43 Sara 72,170 -37.3%
44 Shelby 71,994 +42.7%
45 Heather 71,625 -79.7%
46 Haley 71,198 +156.3%
47 Maria 70,902 -2.1%
48 Kaitlyn 67,565 +89.2%
49 Laura 67,251 -64.5%
50 Erin 65,334 -34.6%