Most popular baby names of 1989

In 1989, the most popular names for US babies were Michael for boys (65,409 babies, 3.3% of boys) and Jessica for girls (47,887 babies, 2.6% of girls). The rest of the top five were Christopher, Matthew, Joshua and David for boys and Ashley, Brittany, Amanda and Sarah for girls. SSA recorded 9,231 different boy names and 14,550 different girl names that year.

Top 100 boy names, 1989
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Michael	65,409	–
2	Christopher	53,184	–
3	Matthew	45,374	–
4	Joshua	44,099	–
5	David	35,223	▲ 1
6	Daniel	35,009	▲ 2
7	Andrew	34,818	▼ 2
8	Justin	32,852	▼ 1
9	James	32,720	–
10	Robert	30,073	–
11	Joseph	29,882	▲ 1
12	John	29,853	▼ 1
13	Ryan	28,407	–
14	Nicholas	28,231	–
15	William	24,674	▲ 1
16	Anthony	24,423	▲ 2
17	Jonathan	23,607	▼ 2
18	Brandon	23,310	▼ 1
19	Kevin	21,209	▲ 1
20	Kyle	20,879	▲ 1
21	Eric	18,978	▼ 2
22	Steven	18,929	▲ 2
23	Thomas	18,436	–
24	Brian	18,108	▼ 2
25	Zachary	18,078	▲ 4
26	Jacob	17,834	▲ 2
27	Adam	16,928	▼ 1
28	Timothy	16,427	▼ 3
29	Benjamin	15,733	▲ 1
30	Tyler	15,590	▲ 3
31	Aaron	15,311	–
32	Alexander	14,524	▲ 2
33	Richard	14,133	▼ 1
34	Jeremy	13,080	▲ 1
35	Jason	12,614	▼ 8
36	Charles	12,245	▲ 1
37	Jeffrey	12,012	▼ 1
38	Patrick	11,988	▲ 4
39	Sean	11,896	▼ 1
40	Stephen	11,736	–
41	Travis	11,528	–
42	Mark	11,324	▼ 3
43	Nathan	10,907	▲ 1
44	Jordan	10,884	▲ 8
45	Cody	10,822	▼ 2
46	Jose	10,330	▲ 3
47	Samuel	10,107	▼ 2
48	Dustin	9,715	–
49	Paul	9,029	▼ 3
50	Jesse	8,855	▲ 5
51	Scott	8,850	▼ 4
52	Gregory	8,758	▼ 2
53	Kenneth	8,555	▼ 2
54	Derek	8,365	▼ 1
55	Corey	8,004	▲ 1
56	Bryan	7,852	▼ 2
57	Jared	7,018	▲ 3
58	Bradley	6,977	▼ 1
59	Austin	6,886	▲ 4
60	Alex	6,542	▼ 2
61	Cory	6,450	▼ 2
62	Edward	5,849	–
63	Juan	5,780	▲ 5
64	Cameron	5,592	▲ 5
65	Shawn	5,479	▼ 4
66	Peter	5,411	▼ 2
67	Marcus	5,395	▼ 1
68	Ian	4,948	▲ 9
69	Evan	4,926	▲ 5
70	Keith	4,892	–
71	Shane	4,861	▼ 4
72	Taylor	4,858	▲ 19
73	Luis	4,852	▲ 2
74	Chad	4,723	▼ 9
75	Phillip	4,721	▼ 4
76	Antonio	4,720	▼ 4
77	Carlos	4,637	▲ 3
78	Christian	4,626	▲ 8
79	George	4,512	▼ 1
80	Vincent	4,496	▲ 1
81	Brett	4,428	▼ 8
82	Donald	4,323	▼ 6
83	Trevor	4,166	▲ 4
84	Nathaniel	4,120	▼ 2
85	Ronald	4,111	▼ 6
86	Raymond	4,106	▼ 2
87	Ethan	4,056	▲ 174
88	Joel	3,940	▼ 3
89	Victor	3,905	–
90	Casey	3,850	▼ 7
91	Caleb	3,788	▲ 17
92	Douglas	3,701	▼ 4
93	Mitchell	3,645	▲ 2
94	Seth	3,635	▼ 4
95	Erik	3,628	▼ 3
96	Devin	3,596	▲ 2
97	Blake	3,523	▲ 6
98	Wesley	3,457	▼ 5
99	Derrick	3,442	▼ 3
100	Adrian	3,418	▲ 1

Top 100 girl names, 1989
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Jessica	47,887	–
2	Ashley	47,588	–
3	Brittany	37,791	▲ 3
4	Amanda	36,834	▼ 1
5	Sarah	27,796	▼ 1
6	Samantha	24,792	▲ 2
7	Jennifer	24,004	▼ 2
8	Stephanie	22,766	▼ 1
9	Lauren	21,065	▲ 2
10	Elizabeth	20,298	–
11	Megan	19,780	▲ 1
12	Nicole	19,034	▼ 3
13	Emily	17,324	▲ 5
14	Amber	16,760	▲ 1
15	Heather	16,248	▼ 1
16	Tiffany	15,716	▼ 3
17	Danielle	15,366	–
18	Rachel	15,357	▲ 1
19	Melissa	15,204	▼ 3
20	Kayla	14,904	–
21	Courtney	13,452	▲ 3
22	Michelle	13,376	▼ 1
23	Christina	13,140	▼ 1
24	Rebecca	12,435	▲ 2
25	Laura	11,742	▼ 2
26	Katherine	11,415	▲ 1
27	Chelsea	11,252	▲ 6
28	Kimberly	11,037	▼ 3
29	Sara	9,706	▲ 1
30	Jasmine	9,550	▲ 23
31	Kelsey	9,256	▲ 33
32	Crystal	9,103	▼ 4
33	Alyssa	9,043	▲ 14
34	Erica	9,025	▼ 3
35	Amy	8,898	▼ 6
36	Kristen	8,803	–
37	Kelly	8,759	▼ 5
38	Mary	8,645	▼ 4
39	Andrea	8,410	▼ 4
40	Erin	8,143	▼ 3
41	Brittney	7,834	▲ 11
42	Hannah	7,830	▲ 19
43	Alexandra	7,680	▲ 6
44	Victoria	7,637	▼ 2
45	Katie	7,289	▼ 5
46	Allison	7,283	–
47	Angela	7,199	▼ 9
48	Lindsey	7,069	–
49	Caitlin	7,025	▼ 5
50	Vanessa	6,961	▼ 9
51	Anna	6,899	▲ 3
52	Jamie	6,845	▼ 7
53	Alicia	6,817	▼ 3
54	Cassandra	6,698	▲ 5
55	Lisa	6,574	▼ 12
56	Maria	6,345	▲ 4
57	Whitney	6,306	▼ 18
58	Kathryn	6,294	▼ 3
59	Christine	6,134	▼ 8
60	Kristin	6,064	▼ 2
61	Shannon	5,660	▼ 5
62	Natalie	5,630	▲ 1
63	Lindsay	5,525	▼ 6
64	Jacqueline	5,445	▼ 2
65	Kristina	4,803	▲ 3
66	April	4,734	▼ 1
67	Catherine	4,559	▲ 2
68	Monica	4,502	▲ 2
69	Morgan	4,426	▲ 9
70	Tara	4,370	▼ 3
71	Jenna	4,339	▼ 5
72	Jordan	4,281	▲ 64
73	Erika	4,190	▲ 3
74	Brooke	4,148	▲ 13
75	Taylor	4,069	▲ 27
76	Katelyn	4,036	▲ 8
77	Brianna	3,995	▲ 19
78	Julie	3,942	▼ 7
79	Holly	3,893	▼ 7
80	Meghan	3,856	▲ 1
81	Marissa	3,794	▲ 20
82	Krystal	3,787	▼ 8
83	Leah	3,784	▼ 1
84	Cynthia	3,778	▼ 5
85	Veronica	3,712	▼ 2
86	Diana	3,686	▼ 1
87	Natasha	3,668	▼ 14
88	Melanie	3,629	▲ 11
89	Patricia	3,604	▼ 12
90	Kathleen	3,597	▼ 15
91	Bianca	3,593	▲ 17
92	Alexis	3,518	▲ 5
93	Molly	3,459	▼ 7
94	Abigail	3,405	▲ 24
95	Kaitlyn	3,392	▲ 11
96	Julia	3,370	▼ 8
97	Margaret	3,285	▼ 4
98	Brandi	3,249	▼ 7
99	Kendra	3,230	▼ 19
100	Kaitlin	3,170	▼ 2

Source: US Social Security Administration baby name data, 1989. 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.