Most Popular Baby Names of 1988

In 1988, Jessica was the most popular name for girls, given to 51,556 babies, and Michael topped the boys' list with 64,171. Jessica held on to number one for a fourth year in a row, and Michael held on to number one for a 28th year in a row.

Social Security counted 1,780,854 girls and 1,914,283 boys born in 1988 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 13,883 different girls' names and 8,495 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1988

Top girls' names, 1988
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1987
1	Jessica	51,556	same
2	Ashley	49,977	same
3	Amanda	39,459	same
4	Sarah	28,374	up 1
5	Jennifer	27,893	down 1
6	Brittany	26,816	up 1
7	Stephanie	22,843	down 1
8	Samantha	20,700	up 3
9	Nicole	20,315	down 1
10	Elizabeth	20,042	same
11	Lauren	19,637	up 5
12	Megan	18,570	same
13	Tiffany	18,364	up 5
14	Heather	18,033	down 5
15	Amber	16,676	same
16	Melissa	16,546	down 3
17	Danielle	16,253	down 3
18	Emily	15,869	up 1
19	Rachel	15,348	down 2
20	Kayla	13,433	up 7
21	Michelle	13,339	same
22	Christina	12,954	down 2
23	Laura	12,126	down 1
24	Courtney	12,043	up 9
25	Kimberly	11,948	down 2
26	Rebecca	11,877	down 1
27	Katherine	11,154	up 1
28	Crystal	10,101	down 2
29	Amy	10,034	down 5
30	Sara	10,020	down 1
31	Erica	9,591	same
32	Kelly	8,917	down 2
33	Chelsea	8,879	up 14
34	Mary	8,518	up 3
35	Andrea	8,392	up 1
36	Kristen	8,382	up 6
37	Erin	8,267	down 3
38	Angela	7,914	down 3
39	Whitney	7,853	down 7
40	Katie	7,770	down 2
41	Vanessa	7,516	up 2
42	Victoria	7,283	up 8
43	Lisa	7,267	down 3
44	Caitlin	7,246	up 19
45	Jamie	7,187	down 6
46	Allison	7,145	down 2
47	Alyssa	7,135	up 13
48	Lindsey	7,001	down 7
49	Alexandra	6,972	up 10
50	Alicia	6,700	down 4
51	Christine	6,612	down 3
52	Brittney	6,576	up 9
53	Jasmine	6,446	up 26
54	Anna	6,444	down 2
55	Kathryn	6,342	down 4
56	Shannon	6,256	down 11
57	Lindsay	6,025	down 8
58	Kristin	6,019	down 3
59	Cassandra	5,727	up 9
60	Maria	5,713	down 7
61	Hannah	5,562	up 5
62	Jacqueline	5,544	down 8
63	Natalie	5,483	down 7
64	Kelsey	5,452	up 3
65	April	4,840	down 7
66	Jenna	4,607	down 9
67	Tara	4,606	up 2
68	Kristina	4,578	down 6
69	Catherine	4,504	up 5
70	Monica	4,463	down 6
71	Julie	4,462	down 6
72	Holly	4,217	down 1
73	Natasha	4,039	same
74	Krystal	4,019	down 4
75	Kathleen	3,927	down 3
76	Erika	3,886	down 1
77	Patricia	3,799	down 1
78	Morgan	3,796	up 17
79	Cynthia	3,784	up 5
80	Kendra	3,761	down 3
81	Meghan	3,609	down 3
82	Leah	3,558	same
83	Veronica	3,525	down 3
84	Katelyn	3,510	up 43
85	Diana	3,489	same
86	Molly	3,461	up 11
87	Brooke	3,416	up 7
88	Julia	3,359	down 2
89	Bethany	3,270	down 2
90	Dana	3,192	down 7
91	Brandi	3,169	down 3
92	Casey	3,150	down 11
93	Margaret	3,139	down 3
94	Leslie	3,079	down 5
95	Kara	3,039	up 9
96	Brianna	2,963	up 26
97	Alexis	2,900	up 16
98	Kaitlin	2,841	up 43
99	Melanie	2,834	up 3
100	Rachael	2,831	down 2

Top boys' names, 1988
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1987
1	Michael	64,171	same
2	Christopher	53,014	same
3	Matthew	45,876	same
4	Joshua	42,653	same
5	Andrew	35,745	up 1
6	David	35,329	down 1
7	Justin	35,055	up 2
8	Daniel	34,718	down 1
9	James	32,523	down 1
10	Robert	30,319	same
11	John	29,427	same
12	Joseph	29,019	same
13	Ryan	27,747	same
14	Nicholas	25,303	up 2
15	Jonathan	24,349	up 3
16	William	24,126	down 1
17	Brandon	23,744	down 3
18	Anthony	23,644	down 1
19	Eric	20,175	up 2
20	Kevin	20,168	down 1
21	Kyle	19,895	up 1
22	Brian	19,532	down 2
23	Thomas	18,806	up 1
24	Steven	17,865	up 1
25	Timothy	16,807	up 1
26	Adam	16,467	up 1
27	Jason	15,917	down 4
28	Jacob	15,883	up 3
29	Zachary	15,870	up 4
30	Benjamin	15,187	down 2
31	Aaron	14,408	up 3
32	Richard	14,144	down 2
33	Tyler	13,349	up 6
34	Alexander	13,341	up 3
35	Jeremy	13,169	down 6
36	Jeffrey	12,401	down 4
37	Charles	12,109	down 2
38	Sean	11,794	up 2
39	Mark	11,715	down 3
40	Stephen	11,607	down 2
41	Travis	11,423	up 1
42	Patrick	11,400	down 1
43	Cody	10,583	up 6
44	Nathan	10,154	up 1
45	Samuel	9,564	up 5
46	Paul	9,438	same
47	Scott	9,351	down 4
48	Dustin	9,337	down 4
49	Jose	9,007	down 1
50	Gregory	8,629	down 3
51	Kenneth	8,567	up 2
52	Jordan	8,490	same
53	Derek	8,073	up 1
54	Bryan	8,036	down 3
55	Jesse	7,914	same
56	Corey	7,328	up 1
57	Bradley	7,017	down 1
58	Alex	6,408	up 2
59	Cory	6,266	up 3
60	Jared	6,211	down 2
61	Shawn	5,893	down 2
62	Edward	5,801	down 1
63	Austin	5,588	up 13
64	Peter	5,425	same
65	Chad	5,299	down 2
66	Marcus	5,207	up 1
67	Shane	5,173	down 2
68	Juan	5,171	down 2
69	Cameron	4,985	up 27
70	Keith	4,949	down 1
71	Phillip	4,576	down 3
72	Antonio	4,461	same
73	Brett	4,375	down 2
74	Evan	4,337	up 9
75	Luis	4,333	up 7
76	Donald	4,328	down 6
77	Ian	4,315	up 4
78	George	4,296	down 1
79	Ronald	4,173	down 6
80	Carlos	4,127	down 6
81	Nathaniel	4,054	down 3
82	Vincent	4,054	up 13
83	Casey	4,039	down 3
84	Raymond	4,036	down 5
85	Joel	3,940	down 10
86	Christian	3,937	up 4
87	Trevor	3,695	up 6
88	Douglas	3,655	down 3
89	Victor	3,628	up 2
90	Seth	3,493	down 1
91	Taylor	3,492	up 26
92	Erik	3,478	up 2
93	Wesley	3,478	down 1
94	Philip	3,373	down 10
95	Mitchell	3,323	up 6
96	Craig	3,306	down 8
97	Derrick	3,304	down 11
98	Devin	3,302	up 1
99	Frank	3,271	down 2
100	Gary	3,244	down 13

Biggest climbers in 1988

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1987.

Girls

Jerica: up 236 places, from 828th to 592nd
Katelynn: up 225 places, from 743rd to 518th
Arielle: up 213 places, from 581st to 368th
Alexander: up 208 places, from 810th to 602nd
Simone: up 199 places, from 510th to 311th
Katlyn: up 193 places, from 641st to 448th
Kyra: up 186 places, from 745th to 559th
Beatriz: up 173 places, from 708th to 535th
Eden: up 169 places, from 856th to 687th
Rebeca: up 169 places, from 968th to 799th

Boys

Irving: up 379 places, from 901st to 522nd
Irvin: up 264 places, from 770th to 506th
Colton: up 226 places, from 494th to 268th
Kameron: up 179 places, from 725th to 546th
Austen: up 178 places, from 961st to 783rd
Kirby: up 176 places, from 864th to 688th
Drake: up 160 places, from 786th to 626th
Trever: up 159 places, from 907th to 748th
Donta: up 146 places, from 993rd to 847th
Tucker: up 145 places, from 775th to 630th

New to the top 1,000 in 1988

Girls

Shanice, 270th (its first time ever)
Jaleesa, 345th (its first time ever)
Jalisa, 437th (its first time ever)
Whitley, 446th (its first time ever)
Brittny, 572nd (back after dropping out)
Geraldine, 576th (back after dropping out)
Deja, 676th (its first time ever)
Taja, 724th (its first time ever)
Chelsi, 729th (its first time ever)
Julissa, 736th (back after dropping out)

Boys

Camron, 796th (its first time ever)
Colten, 816th (its first time ever)
Long, 821st (back after dropping out)
Samson, 831st (back after dropping out)
Codey, 832nd (its first time ever)
Arsenio, 854th (its first time ever)
Jaquan, 881st (its first time ever)
Geraldo, 892nd (its first time ever)
Martez, 894th (back after dropping out)
Kelby, 900th (its first time ever)

How spread out were names in 1988?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 17.3% of the girls counted in 1988, and the top ten boys' names to 21.4% of the boys. In 1968, those shares were 16.1% for girls and 28.3% for boys.

Source: Social Security Administration, national baby name data, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.