Most Popular Baby Names of 1997

In 1997, Emily was the most popular name for girls, given to 25,734 babies, and Michael topped the boys' list with 37,562. Emily held on to number one for a second year in a row, and Michael held on to number one for a 37th year in a row.

Social Security counted 1,740,710 girls and 1,885,140 boys born in 1997 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 16,163 different girls' names and 10,814 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1997

Top girls' names, 1997
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1996
1	Emily	25,734	same
2	Jessica	21,045	same
3	Ashley	20,897	same
4	Sarah	20,716	same
5	Hannah	20,597	up 2
6	Samantha	20,170	down 1
7	Taylor	19,504	down 1
8	Alexis	17,171	same
9	Elizabeth	15,430	up 1
10	Madison	15,189	up 5
11	Megan	14,244	up 1
12	Kayla	13,885	down 1
13	Rachel	13,798	down 4
14	Lauren	13,248	up 2
15	Alyssa	12,649	up 8
16	Amanda	12,243	down 3
17	Brianna	12,008	same
18	Jennifer	11,840	up 1
19	Victoria	11,795	down 1
20	Brittany	11,529	down 6
21	Nicole	10,744	up 1
22	Morgan	10,342	up 3
23	Stephanie	9,778	down 3
24	Jasmine	9,680	up 4
25	Rebecca	9,634	down 1
26	Abigail	9,630	up 6
27	Olivia	9,479	up 7
28	Courtney	9,035	down 7
29	Amber	8,914	down 2
30	Alexandra	8,752	down 4
31	Haley	8,687	down 1
32	Katherine	8,518	down 1
33	Anna	8,342	same
34	Danielle	8,034	down 5
35	Sydney	8,032	up 4
36	Emma	7,749	up 17
37	Julia	7,341	up 11
38	Maria	7,314	down 1
39	Allison	7,274	down 1
40	Jordan	7,167	up 9
41	Kaitlyn	7,005	down 1
42	Destiny	6,727	up 14
43	Shelby	6,701	down 8
44	Melissa	6,679	down 2
45	Brooke	6,671	same
46	Mary	6,650	down 2
47	Savannah	6,580	down 4
48	Natalie	6,539	down 2
49	Kimberly	6,182	down 8
50	Sara	6,159	same
51	Gabrielle	5,943	up 3
52	Erin	5,940	down 1
53	Sabrina	5,816	up 5
54	Vanessa	5,796	up 6
55	Michelle	5,695	down 8
56	Sierra	5,688	up 6
57	Kelsey	5,573	down 21
58	Andrea	5,405	up 3
59	Madeline	5,313	up 8
60	Marissa	5,298	down 1
61	Tiffany	5,221	down 9
62	Christina	5,182	down 5
63	Katelyn	5,156	up 1
64	Paige	5,030	up 1
65	Bailey	5,024	up 20
66	Laura	4,851	same
67	Mariah	4,803	down 4
68	Cheyenne	4,764	same
69	Grace	4,639	up 25
70	Miranda	4,590	up 6
71	Mackenzie	4,491	up 4
72	Briana	4,476	same
73	Chelsea	4,461	down 18
74	Breanna	4,444	same
75	Caroline	4,439	up 3
76	Jenna	4,422	up 7
77	Jacqueline	4,278	down 8
78	Alexandria	4,234	down 1
79	Monica	4,223	up 3
80	Hailey	4,148	up 13
81	Cassandra	4,098	up 8
82	Kristen	4,085	down 12
83	Kelly	4,064	down 10
84	Erica	3,992	down 5
85	Shannon	3,914	down 5
86	Kathryn	3,873	up 1
87	Katie	3,867	down 6
88	Caitlin	3,862	down 4
89	Alicia	3,782	up 2
90	Heather	3,767	down 19
91	Autumn	3,740	up 13
92	Amy	3,691	down 4
93	Angela	3,652	down 3
94	Sophia	3,640	up 31
95	Lindsey	3,636	down 9
96	Catherine	3,591	down 1
97	Diana	3,586	up 10
98	Molly	3,452	up 1
99	Crystal	3,435	down 7
100	Michaela	3,398	up 2

Top boys' names, 1997
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1996
1	Michael	37,562	same
2	Jacob	34,163	up 1
3	Matthew	31,517	down 1
4	Christopher	29,108	same
5	Joshua	28,289	same
6	Nicholas	27,258	same
7	Andrew	25,208	up 3
8	Brandon	25,197	same
9	Austin	25,118	same
10	Tyler	24,879	down 3
11	Daniel	23,950	same
12	Joseph	23,604	same
13	Zachary	21,929	up 1
14	David	21,896	down 1
15	John	21,386	same
16	Ryan	20,527	same
17	James	20,408	same
18	Anthony	20,034	up 1
19	William	20,020	down 1
20	Justin	18,745	same
21	Jonathan	18,542	same
22	Alexander	17,112	same
23	Robert	16,304	same
24	Kyle	15,919	up 1
25	Christian	15,059	down 1
26	Jordan	14,761	up 1
27	Samuel	14,237	up 3
28	Kevin	13,295	down 2
29	Benjamin	13,266	same
30	Dylan	12,968	up 3
31	Thomas	12,899	down 3
32	Jose	11,929	same
33	Aaron	11,170	up 1
34	Nathan	10,442	up 3
35	Eric	10,317	same
36	Cody	10,296	down 5
37	Brian	9,739	down 1
38	Noah	9,280	up 12
39	Adam	8,805	same
40	Steven	8,765	down 2
41	Jason	8,746	same
42	Logan	8,620	same
43	Timothy	8,502	down 3
44	Hunter	8,405	up 3
45	Cameron	8,219	up 4
46	Ethan	7,807	up 16
47	Caleb	7,775	up 1
48	Sean	7,744	down 2
49	Charles	7,656	down 6
50	Patrick	7,490	down 6
51	Richard	7,243	down 6
52	Connor	7,140	up 2
53	Luis	7,131	up 4
54	Juan	7,115	down 2
55	Alex	6,855	down 2
56	Jared	6,682	up 8
57	Gabriel	6,406	up 4
58	Mark	6,165	down 3
59	Devin	6,044	up 1
60	Isaiah	6,003	up 11
61	Evan	6,002	up 4
62	Trevor	6,001	up 1
63	Jesse	5,920	down 12
64	Jeremy	5,803	down 8
65	Nathaniel	5,775	up 4
66	Dakota	5,664	down 8
67	Carlos	5,463	same
68	Stephen	5,414	down 9
69	Bryan	5,251	down 3
70	Ian	5,211	same
71	Jesus	5,164	up 3
72	Cole	5,159	up 34
73	Isaac	5,146	up 13
74	Elijah	5,089	up 7
75	Antonio	5,069	up 5
76	Jack	4,984	up 13
77	Chase	4,964	down 1
78	Luke	4,953	down 3
79	Paul	4,752	down 1
80	Blake	4,728	up 4
81	Travis	4,684	down 8
82	Tanner	4,676	up 8
83	Kenneth	4,659	down 6
84	Jeffrey	4,582	down 12
85	Garrett	4,545	same
86	Angel	4,514	up 16
87	Taylor	4,333	down 5
88	Dustin	4,277	down 9
89	Mason	4,268	up 15
90	Dalton	4,238	up 9
91	Miguel	4,234	same
92	Tristan	4,197	down 24
93	Marcus	4,183	down 6
94	Bradley	4,124	down 11
95	Adrian	4,116	down 3
96	Mitchell	4,068	down 8
97	Seth	4,043	up 6
98	Lucas	4,034	down 5
99	Alejandro	3,998	up 8
100	Edward	3,915	down 4

Biggest climbers in 1997

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1996.

Girls

Julissa: up 565 places, from 784th to 219th
Tatum: up 399 places, from 948th to 549th
Jailene: up 360 places, from 946th to 586th
Giselle: up 310 places, from 623rd to 313th
Leann: up 308 places, from 996th to 688th
Mireya: up 299 places, from 747th to 448th
Jazlyn: up 240 places, from 943rd to 703rd
Madyson: up 240 places, from 959th to 719th
Celine: up 237 places, from 774th to 537th
Amari: up 215 places, from 890th to 675th

Boys

Jarod: up 375 places, from 723rd to 348th
Romeo: up 339 places, from 976th to 637th
Trace: up 253 places, from 749th to 496th
Aiden: up 187 places, from 825th to 638th
Nasir: up 180 places, from 966th to 786th
Jakob: up 162 places, from 382nd to 220th
Kole: up 137 places, from 882nd to 745th
Mateo: up 136 places, from 696th to 560th
Domenic: up 129 places, from 931st to 802nd
Dominik: up 129 places, from 987th to 858th

New to the top 1,000 in 1997

Girls

Yulissa, 424th (its first time ever)
Nikita, 583rd (back after dropping out)
Anahi, 604th (its first time ever)
Reilly, 623rd (its first time ever)
Aylin, 640th (its first time ever)
Jewel, 665th (back after dropping out)
Starr, 714th (back after dropping out)
Julisa, 730th (its first time ever)
Salma, 735th (its first time ever)
Lisette, 747th (back after dropping out)

Boys

Kobe, 553rd (its first time ever)
Gianni, 678th (its first time ever)
Jaret, 726th (its first time ever)
Koby, 760th (its first time ever)
Nash, 761st (its first time ever)
Ryder, 813th (back after dropping out)
Rylan, 844th (its first time ever)
Jaxon, 862nd (its first time ever)
Deontae, 868th (back after dropping out)
Giovanny, 876th (its first time ever)

How spread out were names in 1997?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 11.3% of the girls counted in 1997, and the top ten boys' names to 15.3% of the boys. In 1977, those shares were 16.7% for girls and 24.9% 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.