Most popular baby names of 1988

In 1988, the most popular names for US babies were Michael for boys (64,168 babies, 3.4% of boys) and Jessica for girls (51,557 babies, 2.9% of girls). The rest of the top five were Christopher, Matthew, Joshua and Andrew for boys and Ashley, Amanda, Sarah and Jennifer for girls. SSA recorded 8,493 different boy names and 13,882 different girl names that year.

Top 100 boy names, 1988
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Michael	64,168	–
2	Christopher	53,015	–
3	Matthew	45,875	–
4	Joshua	42,650	–
5	Andrew	35,745	▲ 1
6	David	35,330	▼ 1
7	Justin	35,055	▲ 2
8	Daniel	34,718	▼ 1
9	James	32,521	▼ 1
10	Robert	30,317	–
11	John	29,423	–
12	Joseph	29,019	–
13	Ryan	27,750	–
14	Nicholas	25,300	▲ 2
15	Jonathan	24,348	▲ 3
16	William	24,125	▼ 1
17	Brandon	23,744	▼ 3
18	Anthony	23,643	▼ 1
19	Eric	20,174	▲ 2
20	Kevin	20,170	▼ 1
21	Kyle	19,896	▲ 1
22	Brian	19,529	▼ 2
23	Thomas	18,808	▲ 1
24	Steven	17,864	▲ 1
25	Timothy	16,808	▲ 1
26	Adam	16,465	▲ 1
27	Jason	15,916	▼ 4
28	Jacob	15,883	▲ 3
29	Zachary	15,871	▲ 4
30	Benjamin	15,187	▼ 2
31	Aaron	14,409	▲ 3
32	Richard	14,145	▼ 2
33	Tyler	13,349	▲ 6
34	Alexander	13,338	▲ 3
35	Jeremy	13,170	▼ 6
36	Jeffrey	12,399	▼ 4
37	Charles	12,108	▼ 2
38	Sean	11,794	▲ 2
39	Mark	11,717	▼ 3
40	Stephen	11,607	▼ 2
41	Travis	11,421	▲ 1
42	Patrick	11,401	▼ 1
43	Cody	10,583	▲ 6
44	Nathan	10,154	▲ 1
45	Samuel	9,564	▲ 5
46	Paul	9,435	–
47	Scott	9,354	▼ 4
48	Dustin	9,336	▼ 4
49	Jose	9,008	▼ 1
50	Gregory	8,631	▼ 3
51	Kenneth	8,567	▲ 2
52	Jordan	8,490	–
53	Derek	8,074	▲ 1
54	Bryan	8,036	▼ 3
55	Jesse	7,912	–
56	Corey	7,330	▲ 1
57	Bradley	7,017	▼ 1
58	Alex	6,408	▲ 2
59	Cory	6,267	▲ 3
60	Jared	6,210	▼ 2
61	Shawn	5,893	▼ 2
62	Edward	5,801	▼ 1
63	Austin	5,588	▲ 13
64	Peter	5,424	–
65	Chad	5,297	▼ 2
66	Marcus	5,207	▲ 1
67	Shane	5,173	▼ 2
68	Juan	5,172	▼ 2
69	Cameron	4,985	▲ 27
70	Keith	4,948	▼ 1
71	Phillip	4,574	▼ 3
72	Antonio	4,461	–
73	Brett	4,375	▼ 2
74	Evan	4,336	▲ 9
75	Luis	4,331	▲ 7
76	Donald	4,329	▼ 6
77	Ian	4,315	▲ 4
78	George	4,296	▼ 1
79	Ronald	4,172	▼ 6
80	Carlos	4,127	▼ 6
81	Vincent	4,056	▲ 14
82	Nathaniel	4,054	▼ 4
83	Casey	4,039	▼ 3
84	Raymond	4,036	▼ 5
85	Joel	3,939	▼ 10
86	Christian	3,936	▲ 4
87	Trevor	3,695	▲ 6
88	Douglas	3,654	▼ 3
89	Victor	3,629	▲ 2
90	Seth	3,492	▼ 1
91	Taylor	3,492	▲ 26
92	Erik	3,478	▲ 2
93	Wesley	3,478	▼ 1
94	Philip	3,373	▼ 10
95	Mitchell	3,323	▲ 6
96	Derrick	3,308	▼ 10
97	Craig	3,306	▼ 9
98	Devin	3,301	▲ 1
99	Frank	3,271	▼ 2
100	Gary	3,244	▼ 13

Top 100 girl names, 1988
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Jessica	51,557	–
2	Ashley	49,975	–
3	Amanda	39,459	–
4	Sarah	28,374	▲ 1
5	Jennifer	27,893	▼ 1
6	Brittany	26,817	▲ 1
7	Stephanie	22,844	▼ 1
8	Samantha	20,700	▲ 3
9	Nicole	20,314	▼ 1
10	Elizabeth	20,042	–
11	Lauren	19,638	▲ 5
12	Megan	18,570	–
13	Tiffany	18,363	▲ 5
14	Heather	18,033	▼ 5
15	Amber	16,676	–
16	Melissa	16,545	▼ 3
17	Danielle	16,254	▼ 3
18	Emily	15,871	▲ 1
19	Rachel	15,348	▼ 2
20	Kayla	13,432	▲ 7
21	Michelle	13,339	–
22	Christina	12,954	▼ 2
23	Laura	12,127	▼ 1
24	Courtney	12,043	▲ 9
25	Kimberly	11,949	▼ 2
26	Rebecca	11,876	▼ 1
27	Katherine	11,154	▲ 1
28	Crystal	10,101	▼ 2
29	Amy	10,034	▼ 5
30	Sara	10,018	▼ 1
31	Erica	9,591	–
32	Kelly	8,916	▼ 2
33	Chelsea	8,880	▲ 14
34	Mary	8,517	▲ 3
35	Andrea	8,391	▲ 1
36	Kristen	8,382	▲ 6
37	Erin	8,267	▼ 3
38	Angela	7,915	▼ 3
39	Whitney	7,851	▼ 7
40	Katie	7,770	▼ 2
41	Vanessa	7,516	▲ 2
42	Victoria	7,283	▲ 8
43	Lisa	7,267	▼ 3
44	Caitlin	7,246	▲ 19
45	Jamie	7,187	▼ 6
46	Allison	7,145	▼ 2
47	Alyssa	7,134	▲ 13
48	Lindsey	7,001	▼ 7
49	Alexandra	6,972	▲ 10
50	Alicia	6,700	▼ 4
51	Christine	6,612	▼ 3
52	Brittney	6,576	▲ 9
53	Jasmine	6,446	▲ 26
54	Anna	6,443	▼ 2
55	Kathryn	6,342	▼ 4
56	Shannon	6,255	▼ 11
57	Lindsay	6,025	▼ 8
58	Kristin	6,019	▼ 3
59	Cassandra	5,726	▲ 9
60	Maria	5,713	▼ 7
61	Hannah	5,562	▲ 5
62	Jacqueline	5,544	▼ 8
63	Natalie	5,483	▼ 7
64	Kelsey	5,452	▲ 3
65	April	4,839	▼ 7
66	Jenna	4,607	▼ 9
67	Tara	4,606	▲ 2
68	Kristina	4,578	▼ 6
69	Catherine	4,504	▲ 5
70	Monica	4,463	▼ 6
71	Julie	4,462	▼ 6
72	Holly	4,217	▼ 1
73	Natasha	4,039	–
74	Krystal	4,019	▼ 4
75	Kathleen	3,927	▼ 3
76	Erika	3,886	▼ 1
77	Patricia	3,799	▼ 1
78	Morgan	3,796	▲ 17
79	Cynthia	3,784	▲ 5
80	Kendra	3,761	▼ 3
81	Meghan	3,609	▼ 3
82	Leah	3,558	–
83	Veronica	3,525	▼ 3
84	Katelyn	3,510	▲ 43
85	Diana	3,489	–
86	Molly	3,461	▲ 11
87	Brooke	3,416	▲ 7
88	Julia	3,359	▼ 2
89	Bethany	3,270	▼ 2
90	Dana	3,192	▼ 7
91	Brandi	3,169	▼ 3
92	Casey	3,150	▼ 11
93	Margaret	3,138	▼ 3
94	Leslie	3,080	▼ 5
95	Kara	3,039	▲ 9
96	Brianna	2,963	▲ 26
97	Alexis	2,901	▲ 16
98	Kaitlin	2,841	▲ 43
99	Melanie	2,834	▲ 3
100	Rachael	2,831	▼ 2

Source: US Social Security Administration baby name data, 1988. Counts are Social Security card applications for US births; SSA leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies in a year. Updated 2026-10-05. How these numbers are made.