Most popular baby names of 1998

In 1998, the most popular names for US babies were Michael for boys (36,619 babies, 1.9% of boys) and Emily for girls (26,188 babies, 1.5% of girls). The rest of the top five were Jacob, Matthew, Joshua and Christopher for boys and Hannah, Samantha, Sarah and Ashley for girls. SSA recorded 11,311 different boy names and 16,600 different girl names that year.

Top 100 boy names, 1998
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Michael	36,619	–
2	Jacob	36,027	–
3	Matthew	31,145	–
4	Joshua	28,095	▲ 1
5	Christopher	27,007	▼ 1
6	Nicholas	26,633	–
7	Brandon	23,830	▲ 1
8	Tyler	23,712	▲ 2
9	Andrew	23,662	▼ 2
10	Austin	23,477	▼ 1
11	Joseph	23,186	▲ 1
12	Daniel	23,162	▼ 1
13	David	20,892	▲ 1
14	William	20,835	▲ 5
15	John	20,631	–
16	Zachary	20,580	▼ 3
17	Ryan	20,198	▼ 1
18	James	19,689	▼ 1
19	Anthony	19,634	▼ 1
20	Justin	17,971	–
21	Jonathan	17,649	–
22	Alexander	17,466	–
23	Robert	15,527	–
24	Kyle	15,276	–
25	Dylan	14,540	▲ 5
26	Christian	14,522	▼ 1
27	Jordan	14,410	▼ 1
28	Samuel	13,912	▼ 1
29	Noah	13,414	▲ 9
30	Benjamin	13,061	▼ 1
31	Thomas	12,890	–
32	Kevin	12,509	▼ 4
33	Jose	12,375	▼ 1
34	Nathan	11,586	–
35	Cameron	11,416	▲ 10
36	Hunter	11,078	▲ 8
37	Aaron	10,552	▼ 4
38	Ethan	10,536	▲ 8
39	Eric	9,964	▼ 4
40	Jason	9,398	▲ 1
41	Brian	9,146	▼ 4
42	Caleb	9,028	▲ 5
43	Cody	8,810	▼ 7
44	Logan	8,639	▼ 2
45	Adam	8,356	▼ 6
46	Steven	8,115	▼ 6
47	Connor	7,906	▲ 5
48	Charles	7,848	▲ 1
49	Timothy	7,845	▼ 6
50	Sean	7,712	▼ 2
51	Jared	7,462	▲ 5
52	Juan	7,361	▲ 2
53	Luis	7,201	–
54	Gabriel	7,068	▲ 3
55	Alex	6,954	–
56	Richard	6,954	▼ 5
57	Patrick	6,735	▼ 7
58	Trevor	6,598	▲ 4
59	Isaiah	6,487	▲ 1
60	Nathaniel	6,427	▲ 5
61	Jack	6,376	▲ 15
62	Devin	6,218	▼ 3
63	Evan	6,084	▼ 2
64	Mark	5,893	▼ 6
65	Isaac	5,859	▲ 8
66	Elijah	5,662	▲ 8
67	Chase	5,562	▲ 10
68	Jeremy	5,541	▼ 4
69	Carlos	5,480	▼ 2
70	Jesse	5,444	▼ 7
71	Adrian	5,429	▲ 24
72	Dakota	5,401	▼ 6
73	Ian	5,353	▼ 3
74	Bryan	5,309	▼ 5
75	Luke	5,284	▲ 3
76	Jesus	5,218	▼ 5
77	Cole	5,148	▼ 5
78	Stephen	5,013	▼ 10
79	Antonio	4,943	▼ 4
80	Garrett	4,789	▲ 5
81	Angel	4,772	▲ 5
82	Tanner	4,704	–
83	Mason	4,658	▲ 6
84	Spencer	4,619	▲ 20
85	Blake	4,607	▼ 5
86	Seth	4,587	▲ 11
87	Kenneth	4,586	▼ 4
88	Dalton	4,563	▲ 2
89	Paul	4,321	▼ 10
90	Miguel	4,256	▲ 1
91	Jeffrey	4,190	▼ 7
92	Tristan	4,169	–
93	Lucas	4,091	▲ 5
94	Bryce	4,053	▲ 18
95	Alejandro	4,044	▲ 4
96	Marcus	4,015	▼ 3
97	Victor	3,997	▲ 8
98	Travis	3,924	▼ 17
99	Brendan	3,878	▲ 8
100	Jackson	3,861	▲ 24

Top 100 girl names, 1998
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Emily	26,188	–
2	Hannah	21,375	▲ 3
3	Samantha	20,194	▲ 3
4	Sarah	19,896	–
5	Ashley	19,874	▼ 2
6	Alexis	19,778	▲ 2
7	Taylor	18,576	–
8	Jessica	18,238	▼ 6
9	Madison	17,787	▲ 1
10	Elizabeth	15,193	▼ 1
11	Alyssa	13,709	▲ 4
12	Kayla	13,422	–
13	Megan	13,256	▼ 2
14	Lauren	12,907	–
15	Rachel	12,210	▼ 2
16	Victoria	12,148	▲ 3
17	Brianna	12,047	–
18	Abigail	11,100	▲ 8
19	Amanda	10,928	▼ 3
20	Jennifer	10,692	▼ 2
21	Olivia	10,610	▲ 6
22	Emma	10,449	▲ 14
23	Morgan	10,217	▼ 1
24	Nicole	9,911	▼ 3
25	Brittany	9,844	▼ 5
26	Jasmine	9,485	▼ 2
27	Alexandra	8,608	▲ 3
28	Sydney	8,553	▲ 7
29	Stephanie	8,491	▼ 6
30	Rebecca	8,423	▼ 5
31	Anna	8,386	▲ 2
32	Julia	8,328	▲ 5
33	Katherine	8,205	▼ 1
34	Destiny	8,154	▲ 8
35	Kaitlyn	7,936	▲ 6
36	Haley	7,934	▼ 5
37	Amber	7,930	▼ 8
38	Allison	7,861	▲ 1
39	Courtney	7,555	▼ 11
40	Natalie	7,549	▲ 8
41	Danielle	7,368	▼ 7
42	Jordan	7,114	▼ 2
43	Maria	6,817	▼ 5
44	Mary	6,476	▲ 2
45	Savannah	6,464	▲ 2
46	Brooke	6,345	▼ 1
47	Gabrielle	6,201	▲ 4
48	Sara	6,010	▲ 2
49	Shelby	5,893	▼ 6
50	Madeline	5,869	▲ 9
51	Sierra	5,841	▲ 5
52	Vanessa	5,830	▲ 2
53	Grace	5,723	▲ 16
54	Kimberly	5,721	▼ 5
55	Michelle	5,562	–
56	Kelsey	5,550	▲ 1
57	Erin	5,471	▼ 5
58	Katelyn	5,367	▲ 5
59	Melissa	5,354	▼ 15
60	Bailey	5,199	▲ 5
61	Andrea	5,133	▼ 3
62	Mariah	5,086	▲ 5
63	Paige	4,976	▲ 1
64	Mackenzie	4,890	▲ 7
65	Jenna	4,866	▲ 11
66	Marissa	4,722	▼ 6
67	Tiffany	4,612	▼ 6
68	Sabrina	4,608	▼ 15
69	Christina	4,533	▼ 7
70	Hailey	4,472	▲ 10
71	Makayla	4,365	▲ 31
72	Cheyenne	4,327	▼ 4
73	Sophia	4,308	▲ 21
74	Laura	4,298	▼ 8
75	Caroline	4,276	–
76	Breanna	4,250	▼ 2
77	Autumn	4,208	▲ 14
78	Caitlin	4,175	▲ 10
79	Briana	4,152	▼ 7
80	Miranda	4,143	▼ 10
81	Alexandria	4,009	▼ 3
82	Mikayla	3,858	▲ 30
83	Diana	3,853	▲ 14
84	Isabella	3,851	▲ 30
85	Cassandra	3,813	▼ 4
86	Kaylee	3,806	▲ 21
87	Chloe	3,794	▲ 22
88	Katie	3,746	▼ 1
89	Kathryn	3,703	▼ 3
90	Kelly	3,703	▼ 7
91	Claire	3,642	▲ 17
92	Erica	3,624	▼ 8
93	Alexa	3,622	▲ 13
94	Chelsea	3,518	▼ 21
95	Jacqueline	3,500	▼ 18
96	Amy	3,485	▼ 4
97	Lindsey	3,465	▼ 2
98	Alicia	3,408	▼ 9
99	Heather	3,397	▼ 9
100	Angela	3,369	▼ 7

Source: US Social Security Administration baby name data, 1998. 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.