Most popular baby names of 1990

In 1990, the most popular names for US babies were Michael for boys (65,318 babies, 3.2% of boys) and Jessica for girls (46,486 babies, 2.4% of girls). The rest of the top five were Christopher, Matthew, Joshua and Daniel for boys and Ashley, Brittany, Amanda and Samantha for girls. SSA recorded 9,490 different boy names and 15,233 different girl names that year.

Top 100 boy names, 1990
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Michael	65,318	–
2	Christopher	52,359	–
3	Matthew	44,822	–
4	Joshua	43,233	–
5	Daniel	33,831	▲ 1
6	David	33,747	▼ 1
7	Andrew	33,675	–
8	James	32,357	▲ 1
9	Justin	30,650	▼ 1
10	Joseph	30,134	▲ 1
11	Ryan	29,257	▲ 2
12	John	29,090	–
13	Robert	28,885	▼ 3
14	Nicholas	27,914	–
15	Anthony	25,087	▲ 1
16	William	24,909	▼ 1
17	Jonathan	24,077	–
18	Kyle	22,710	▲ 2
19	Brandon	22,162	▼ 1
20	Jacob	22,023	▲ 6
21	Tyler	20,643	▲ 9
22	Zachary	20,432	▲ 3
23	Kevin	20,412	▼ 4
24	Eric	19,429	▼ 3
25	Steven	18,763	▼ 3
26	Thomas	18,230	▼ 3
27	Brian	16,933	▼ 3
28	Alexander	16,194	▲ 4
29	Jordan	16,137	▲ 15
30	Timothy	15,699	▼ 2
31	Cody	15,399	▲ 14
32	Adam	14,713	▼ 5
33	Benjamin	14,630	▼ 4
34	Aaron	14,555	▼ 3
35	Richard	13,580	▼ 2
36	Patrick	12,378	▲ 2
37	Sean	12,018	▲ 2
38	Charles	11,999	▼ 2
39	Stephen	11,943	▲ 1
40	Jeremy	11,689	▼ 6
41	Jose	11,518	▲ 5
42	Travis	11,460	▼ 1
43	Jeffrey	10,980	▼ 6
44	Nathan	10,936	▼ 1
45	Samuel	10,892	▲ 2
46	Jason	10,695	▼ 11
47	Mark	10,690	▼ 5
48	Jesse	8,977	▲ 2
49	Paul	8,579	–
50	Dustin	8,457	▼ 2
51	Gregory	8,377	▲ 1
52	Kenneth	8,262	▲ 1
53	Scott	8,086	▼ 2
54	Derek	8,083	–
55	Austin	7,913	▲ 4
56	Corey	7,691	▼ 1
57	Bryan	7,439	▼ 1
58	Ethan	6,989	▲ 29
59	Alex	6,950	▲ 1
60	Christian	6,782	▲ 18
61	Juan	6,743	▲ 2
62	Cameron	6,664	▲ 2
63	Jared	6,643	▼ 6
64	Taylor	6,579	▲ 8
65	Bradley	6,436	▼ 7
66	Luis	5,795	▲ 7
67	Cory	5,765	▼ 6
68	Edward	5,746	▼ 6
69	Shawn	5,722	▼ 4
70	Ian	5,460	▼ 2
71	Evan	5,309	▼ 2
72	Marcus	5,303	▼ 5
73	Shane	5,275	▼ 2
74	Peter	5,224	▼ 8
75	Carlos	5,213	▲ 2
76	Trevor	5,141	▲ 7
77	Antonio	4,867	▼ 1
78	Vincent	4,803	▲ 2
79	George	4,567	–
80	Keith	4,481	▼ 10
81	Phillip	4,453	▼ 6
82	Victor	4,445	▲ 7
83	Dylan	4,414	▲ 32
84	Brett	4,393	▼ 3
85	Chad	4,350	▼ 11
86	Nathaniel	4,348	▼ 2
87	Donald	4,177	▼ 5
88	Caleb	4,154	▲ 3
89	Casey	4,133	▲ 1
90	Jesus	4,132	▲ 13
91	Blake	4,102	▲ 6
92	Raymond	4,062	▼ 6
93	Mitchell	4,021	–
94	Adrian	4,000	▲ 6
95	Joel	4,000	▼ 7
96	Erik	3,955	▼ 1
97	Ronald	3,899	▼ 12
98	Devin	3,866	▼ 2
99	Garrett	3,757	▲ 3
100	Gabriel	3,699	▲ 10

Top 100 girl names, 1990
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Jessica	46,486	–
2	Ashley	45,560	–
3	Brittany	36,537	–
4	Amanda	34,413	–
5	Samantha	25,868	▲ 1
6	Sarah	25,825	▼ 1
7	Stephanie	24,864	▲ 1
8	Jennifer	22,236	▼ 1
9	Elizabeth	20,749	▲ 1
10	Lauren	20,507	▼ 1
11	Megan	20,259	–
12	Emily	19,368	▲ 1
13	Nicole	17,953	▼ 1
14	Kayla	17,538	▲ 6
15	Amber	15,866	▼ 1
16	Rachel	15,710	▲ 2
17	Courtney	15,380	▲ 4
18	Danielle	14,339	▼ 1
19	Heather	14,220	▼ 4
20	Melissa	14,000	▼ 1
21	Rebecca	13,675	▲ 3
22	Michelle	13,424	–
23	Tiffany	13,162	▼ 7
24	Chelsea	12,784	▲ 3
25	Christina	11,928	▼ 2
26	Katherine	11,627	–
27	Alyssa	11,263	▲ 6
28	Jasmine	11,037	▲ 2
29	Laura	10,914	▼ 4
30	Hannah	10,282	▲ 12
31	Kimberly	10,191	▼ 3
32	Kelsey	9,494	▼ 1
33	Victoria	9,108	▲ 11
34	Sara	8,979	▼ 5
35	Mary	8,669	▲ 3
36	Erica	8,608	▼ 2
37	Alexandra	8,508	▲ 6
38	Amy	8,464	▼ 3
39	Crystal	8,218	▼ 7
40	Andrea	8,214	▼ 1
41	Kelly	8,137	▼ 4
42	Kristen	8,073	▼ 6
43	Erin	7,988	▼ 3
44	Brittney	7,428	▼ 3
45	Anna	7,293	▲ 6
46	Taylor	7,262	▲ 29
47	Maria	7,185	▲ 9
48	Allison	7,134	▼ 2
49	Cassandra	7,054	▲ 5
50	Caitlin	7,026	▼ 1
51	Lindsey	6,782	▼ 3
52	Angela	6,666	▼ 5
53	Katie	6,514	▼ 8
54	Alicia	6,510	▼ 1
55	Jamie	6,509	▼ 3
56	Vanessa	6,409	▼ 6
57	Kathryn	6,353	▲ 1
58	Morgan	6,047	▲ 11
59	Jordan	5,957	▲ 13
60	Whitney	5,905	▼ 3
61	Brianna	5,679	▲ 16
62	Christine	5,679	▼ 3
63	Natalie	5,637	▼ 1
64	Lisa	5,347	▼ 9
65	Kristin	5,303	▼ 5
66	Alexis	5,257	▲ 26
67	Jacqueline	5,237	▼ 3
68	Shannon	5,189	▼ 7
69	Lindsay	5,039	▼ 6
70	Brooke	4,990	▲ 4
71	Catherine	4,893	▼ 4
72	Olivia	4,628	▲ 50
73	April	4,572	▼ 7
74	Erika	4,569	▼ 1
75	Katelyn	4,489	▲ 1
76	Monica	4,453	▼ 8
77	Kristina	4,389	▼ 12
78	Kaitlyn	4,312	▲ 17
79	Paige	4,113	▲ 45
80	Molly	3,965	▲ 13
81	Jenna	3,956	▼ 10
82	Leah	3,924	▲ 1
83	Julia	3,913	▲ 13
84	Bianca	3,829	▲ 7
85	Tara	3,826	▼ 15
86	Melanie	3,813	▲ 2
87	Marissa	3,806	▼ 6
88	Cynthia	3,797	▼ 4
89	Holly	3,772	▼ 10
90	Abigail	3,719	▲ 4
91	Meghan	3,695	▼ 11
92	Kathleen	3,670	▼ 2
93	Julie	3,657	▼ 15
94	Ariel	3,607	▲ 115
95	Alexandria	3,595	▲ 9
96	Veronica	3,587	▼ 11
97	Patricia	3,579	▼ 8
98	Diana	3,547	▼ 12
99	Gabrielle	3,541	▲ 13
100	Shelby	3,517	▲ 129

Source: US Social Security Administration baby name data, 1990. 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.