Born in 1990 · Millennials
Baby names of 1990
The Social Security name files, which cover every name given to at least 5 babies, list 3,952,585 babies born in 1990: 1,898,547 girls and 2,054,038 boys. Jessica and Michael were the most popular names, and 17.8% of all babies got a top-10 name, down from 20.5% in 1980. The name most tied to 1990 is Brittani: among girls, it was 16× as common that year as in the decades around it.
Quick facts
- Generation
- Millennials
- Born 1981–1996
- Babies on record
- 3,952,585
- 1,898,547 girls · 2,054,038 boys
- Different names
- 15,234
- for girls, plus 9,493 for boys (5+ babies each)
- Top-10 names
- 17.8%
- of babies got one · girls 16.0%, boys 19.5%
Top 10 names of 1990
- Jessica was the #1 name for girls every year from 1985 to 1990.
- Michael was the #1 name for boys every year from 1961 to 1998.
How many babies got a top-10 name?
In 1990, 17.8% of babies were given one of that year's 10 most popular names. Across all years, that share fell from 29.0% in 1935 to 7.5% in 2025.
Names that sound like 1990
These names were far more common in 1990 than in the decades around it: the multiplier compares each name's share of 1990 babies with its average share 6–25 years before and after.
| Name | Sex | Rank | Vs. nearby |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brittani | Girl | #230 | 16× |
| Brittany | Girl | #3 | 15× |
| Brittney | Girl | #44 | 11× |
| Chelsea | Girl | #24 | 8.6× |
| Chelsey | Girl | #128 | 8.4× |
| Chelsie | Girl | #273 | 7.9× |
| Whitney | Girl | #60 | 6.7× |
| Kelsey | Girl | #32 | 6.0× |
| Dominique | Boy | #207 | 5.9× |
| Cortney | Girl | #226 | 5.8× |
Names that peaked in 1990
Each of these reached its highest share of US babies in 1990, the high point in records going back to 1880. Rank is for 1990.
| Name | Sex | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Kyle | Boy | #18 |
| Courtney | Girl | #17 |
| Cassandra | Girl | #49 |
| Erika | Girl | #74 |
| Johnathan | Boy | #108 |
| Jonathon | Boy | #124 |
| Cortney | Girl | #226 |
| Brittani | Girl | #230 |
| Hilary | Girl | #232 |
| Johnathon | Boy | #250 |
New to the top 1,000 in 1990
Names that made the national top 1,000 for the first time in 1990 (records go back to 1880).
Girls
- Isamar447 babies
- Skylar419 babies
- Dakota380 babies
- Devan321 babies
- Latifah300 babies
- Kanisha293 babies
- Rubi285 babies
- Skyler283 babies
Boys
- Tevin607 babies
- Denzel496 babies
- Male211 babies
- Laquan153 babies
- Kiefer143 babies
- Ibrahim140 babies
- Jorden140 babies
- Mykel139 babies
Where are they now?
Top-100 names of 1990 that have since dropped out of the top 1,000. Ranks are for 1990 and 2025.
Girls
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data