Most popular baby names of 1997

In 1997, the most popular names for US babies were Michael for boys (37,557 babies, 2.0% of boys) and Emily for girls (25,735 babies, 1.5% of girls). The rest of the top five were Jacob, Matthew, Christopher and Joshua for boys and Jessica, Ashley, Sarah and Hannah for girls. SSA recorded 10,814 different boy names and 16,162 different girl names that year.

Top 100 boy names, 1997
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Michael	37,557	–
2	Jacob	34,163	▲ 1
3	Matthew	31,518	▼ 1
4	Christopher	29,106	–
5	Joshua	28,288	–
6	Nicholas	27,257	–
7	Andrew	25,208	▲ 3
8	Brandon	25,196	–
9	Austin	25,118	–
10	Tyler	24,878	▼ 3
11	Daniel	23,950	–
12	Joseph	23,603	–
13	Zachary	21,928	▲ 1
14	David	21,896	▼ 1
15	John	21,386	–
16	Ryan	20,528	–
17	James	20,407	–
18	Anthony	20,033	▲ 1
19	William	20,020	▼ 1
20	Justin	18,744	–
21	Jonathan	18,541	–
22	Alexander	17,112	–
23	Robert	16,303	–
24	Kyle	15,920	▲ 1
25	Christian	15,059	▼ 1
26	Jordan	14,761	▲ 1
27	Samuel	14,237	▲ 3
28	Kevin	13,294	▼ 2
29	Benjamin	13,266	–
30	Dylan	12,968	▲ 3
31	Thomas	12,899	▼ 3
32	Jose	11,927	–
33	Aaron	11,170	▲ 1
34	Nathan	10,443	▲ 3
35	Eric	10,317	–
36	Cody	10,297	▼ 5
37	Brian	9,737	▼ 1
38	Noah	9,279	▲ 12
39	Adam	8,805	–
40	Steven	8,766	▼ 2
41	Jason	8,746	–
42	Logan	8,620	–
43	Timothy	8,502	▼ 3
44	Hunter	8,405	▲ 3
45	Cameron	8,218	▲ 4
46	Ethan	7,806	▲ 16
47	Caleb	7,775	▲ 1
48	Sean	7,744	▼ 2
49	Charles	7,656	▼ 6
50	Patrick	7,490	▼ 6
51	Richard	7,242	▼ 6
52	Connor	7,140	▲ 2
53	Luis	7,129	▲ 4
54	Juan	7,113	▼ 2
55	Alex	6,855	▼ 2
56	Jared	6,682	▲ 8
57	Gabriel	6,404	▲ 4
58	Mark	6,165	▼ 3
59	Devin	6,043	▲ 1
60	Isaiah	6,003	▲ 11
61	Evan	6,002	▲ 4
62	Trevor	6,001	▲ 1
63	Jesse	5,920	▼ 12
64	Jeremy	5,804	▼ 8
65	Nathaniel	5,775	▲ 4
66	Dakota	5,664	▼ 8
67	Carlos	5,462	–
68	Stephen	5,415	▼ 9
69	Bryan	5,251	▼ 3
70	Ian	5,210	–
71	Jesus	5,164	▲ 3
72	Cole	5,159	▲ 34
73	Isaac	5,145	▲ 13
74	Elijah	5,089	▲ 7
75	Antonio	5,069	▲ 5
76	Jack	4,984	▲ 13
77	Chase	4,963	▼ 1
78	Luke	4,953	▼ 3
79	Paul	4,752	▼ 1
80	Blake	4,728	▲ 4
81	Travis	4,684	▼ 8
82	Tanner	4,676	▲ 8
83	Kenneth	4,659	▼ 6
84	Jeffrey	4,582	▼ 12
85	Garrett	4,545	–
86	Angel	4,514	▲ 16
87	Taylor	4,333	▼ 5
88	Dustin	4,277	▼ 9
89	Mason	4,268	▲ 15
90	Dalton	4,238	▲ 9
91	Miguel	4,234	–
92	Tristan	4,197	▼ 24
93	Marcus	4,182	▼ 6
94	Bradley	4,124	▼ 11
95	Adrian	4,116	▼ 3
96	Mitchell	4,068	▼ 8
97	Seth	4,043	▲ 6
98	Lucas	4,034	▼ 5
99	Alejandro	3,998	▲ 8
100	Edward	3,915	▼ 4

Top 100 girl names, 1997
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Emily	25,735	–
2	Jessica	21,045	–
3	Ashley	20,896	–
4	Sarah	20,716	–
5	Hannah	20,596	▲ 2
6	Samantha	20,170	▼ 1
7	Taylor	19,504	▼ 1
8	Alexis	17,171	–
9	Elizabeth	15,428	▲ 1
10	Madison	15,189	▲ 5
11	Megan	14,244	▲ 1
12	Kayla	13,885	▼ 1
13	Rachel	13,798	▼ 4
14	Lauren	13,248	▲ 2
15	Alyssa	12,649	▲ 8
16	Amanda	12,243	▼ 3
17	Brianna	12,007	–
18	Jennifer	11,840	▲ 1
19	Victoria	11,793	▼ 1
20	Brittany	11,529	▼ 6
21	Nicole	10,744	▲ 1
22	Morgan	10,342	▲ 3
23	Stephanie	9,778	▼ 3
24	Jasmine	9,680	▲ 4
25	Rebecca	9,632	▼ 1
26	Abigail	9,629	▲ 6
27	Olivia	9,479	▲ 7
28	Courtney	9,035	▼ 7
29	Amber	8,914	▼ 2
30	Alexandra	8,751	▼ 4
31	Haley	8,687	▼ 1
32	Katherine	8,517	▼ 1
33	Anna	8,342	–
34	Danielle	8,034	▼ 5
35	Sydney	8,032	▲ 4
36	Emma	7,749	▲ 17
37	Julia	7,341	▲ 11
38	Maria	7,313	▼ 1
39	Allison	7,274	▼ 1
40	Jordan	7,166	▲ 9
41	Kaitlyn	7,005	▼ 1
42	Destiny	6,727	▲ 14
43	Shelby	6,701	▼ 8
44	Melissa	6,679	▼ 2
45	Brooke	6,671	–
46	Mary	6,650	▼ 2
47	Savannah	6,580	▼ 4
48	Natalie	6,539	▼ 2
49	Kimberly	6,182	▼ 8
50	Sara	6,159	–
51	Gabrielle	5,943	▲ 3
52	Erin	5,939	▼ 1
53	Sabrina	5,816	▲ 5
54	Vanessa	5,796	▲ 6
55	Michelle	5,695	▼ 8
56	Sierra	5,688	▲ 6
57	Kelsey	5,573	▼ 21
58	Andrea	5,405	▲ 3
59	Madeline	5,313	▲ 8
60	Marissa	5,298	▼ 1
61	Tiffany	5,221	▼ 9
62	Christina	5,182	▼ 5
63	Katelyn	5,156	▲ 1
64	Paige	5,030	▲ 1
65	Bailey	5,024	▲ 20
66	Laura	4,851	–
67	Mariah	4,803	▼ 4
68	Cheyenne	4,764	–
69	Grace	4,639	▲ 25
70	Miranda	4,590	▲ 6
71	Mackenzie	4,491	▲ 4
72	Briana	4,476	–
73	Chelsea	4,461	▼ 18
74	Breanna	4,444	–
75	Caroline	4,439	▲ 3
76	Jenna	4,422	▲ 7
77	Jacqueline	4,278	▼ 8
78	Alexandria	4,234	▼ 1
79	Monica	4,223	▲ 3
80	Hailey	4,148	▲ 13
81	Cassandra	4,097	▲ 8
82	Kristen	4,085	▼ 12
83	Kelly	4,064	▼ 10
84	Erica	3,992	▼ 5
85	Shannon	3,914	▼ 5
86	Kathryn	3,873	▲ 1
87	Katie	3,866	▼ 6
88	Caitlin	3,862	▼ 4
89	Alicia	3,782	▲ 2
90	Heather	3,767	▼ 19
91	Autumn	3,740	▲ 13
92	Amy	3,691	▼ 4
93	Angela	3,652	▼ 3
94	Sophia	3,640	▲ 31
95	Lindsey	3,636	▼ 9
96	Catherine	3,591	▼ 1
97	Diana	3,585	▲ 10
98	Molly	3,452	▲ 1
99	Crystal	3,435	▼ 7
100	Michaela	3,398	▲ 2

Source: US Social Security Administration baby name data, 1997. 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.