Most Popular Baby Names of 1998

In 1998, Emily was the most popular name for girls, given to 26,188 babies, and Michael topped the boys' list with 36,618. Emily held on to number one for a third year in a row, and Michael held on to number one for a 38th year in a row.

Social Security counted 1,766,949 girls and 1,911,366 boys born in 1998 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 16,601 different girls' names and 11,311 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1998

Top girls' names, 1998
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1997
1	Emily	26,188	same
2	Hannah	21,376	up 3
3	Samantha	20,195	up 3
4	Sarah	19,898	same
5	Ashley	19,875	down 2
6	Alexis	19,778	up 2
7	Taylor	18,576	same
8	Jessica	18,239	down 6
9	Madison	17,787	up 1
10	Elizabeth	15,193	down 1
11	Alyssa	13,709	up 4
12	Kayla	13,422	same
13	Megan	13,258	down 2
14	Lauren	12,908	same
15	Rachel	12,209	down 2
16	Victoria	12,148	up 3
17	Brianna	12,047	same
18	Abigail	11,100	up 8
19	Amanda	10,928	down 3
20	Jennifer	10,692	down 2
21	Olivia	10,610	up 6
22	Emma	10,451	up 14
23	Morgan	10,217	down 1
24	Nicole	9,911	down 3
25	Brittany	9,844	down 5
26	Jasmine	9,488	down 2
27	Alexandra	8,608	up 3
28	Sydney	8,553	up 7
29	Stephanie	8,491	down 6
30	Rebecca	8,423	down 5
31	Anna	8,386	up 2
32	Julia	8,328	up 5
33	Katherine	8,207	down 1
34	Destiny	8,155	up 8
35	Kaitlyn	7,937	up 6
36	Haley	7,934	down 5
37	Amber	7,930	down 8
38	Allison	7,861	up 1
39	Courtney	7,555	down 11
40	Natalie	7,549	up 8
41	Danielle	7,368	down 7
42	Jordan	7,114	down 2
43	Maria	6,817	down 5
44	Mary	6,478	up 2
45	Savannah	6,464	up 2
46	Brooke	6,346	down 1
47	Gabrielle	6,201	up 4
48	Sara	6,010	up 2
49	Shelby	5,893	down 6
50	Madeline	5,869	up 9
51	Sierra	5,841	up 5
52	Vanessa	5,830	up 2
53	Grace	5,724	up 16
54	Kimberly	5,722	down 5
55	Michelle	5,562	same
56	Kelsey	5,551	up 1
57	Erin	5,471	down 5
58	Katelyn	5,367	up 5
59	Melissa	5,354	down 15
60	Bailey	5,198	up 5
61	Andrea	5,133	down 3
62	Mariah	5,086	up 5
63	Paige	4,976	up 1
64	Mackenzie	4,890	up 7
65	Jenna	4,866	up 11
66	Marissa	4,722	down 6
67	Tiffany	4,612	down 6
68	Sabrina	4,608	down 15
69	Christina	4,533	down 7
70	Hailey	4,473	up 10
71	Makayla	4,365	up 31
72	Cheyenne	4,327	down 4
73	Sophia	4,308	up 21
74	Laura	4,298	down 8
75	Caroline	4,276	same
76	Breanna	4,250	down 2
77	Autumn	4,208	up 14
78	Caitlin	4,175	up 10
79	Briana	4,153	down 7
80	Miranda	4,143	down 10
81	Alexandria	4,009	down 3
82	Mikayla	3,858	up 30
83	Diana	3,853	up 14
84	Isabella	3,851	up 30
85	Cassandra	3,813	down 4
86	Kaylee	3,806	up 21
87	Chloe	3,794	up 22
88	Katie	3,746	down 1
89	Kathryn	3,703	down 3
90	Kelly	3,703	down 7
91	Claire	3,642	up 17
92	Erica	3,624	down 8
93	Alexa	3,622	up 13
94	Chelsea	3,518	down 21
95	Jacqueline	3,500	down 18
96	Amy	3,485	down 4
97	Lindsey	3,465	down 2
98	Alicia	3,408	down 9
99	Heather	3,397	down 9
100	Angela	3,369	down 7

Top boys' names, 1998
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1997
1	Michael	36,618	same
2	Jacob	36,031	same
3	Matthew	31,146	same
4	Joshua	28,095	up 1
5	Christopher	27,007	down 1
6	Nicholas	26,632	same
7	Brandon	23,832	up 1
8	Tyler	23,712	up 2
9	Andrew	23,664	down 2
10	Austin	23,478	down 1
11	Joseph	23,186	up 1
12	Daniel	23,165	down 1
13	David	20,892	up 1
14	William	20,836	up 5
15	John	20,633	same
16	Zachary	20,580	down 3
17	Ryan	20,198	down 1
18	James	19,690	down 1
19	Anthony	19,634	down 1
20	Justin	17,971	same
21	Jonathan	17,649	same
22	Alexander	17,466	same
23	Robert	15,527	same
24	Kyle	15,277	same
25	Dylan	14,540	up 5
26	Christian	14,522	down 1
27	Jordan	14,410	down 1
28	Samuel	13,912	down 1
29	Noah	13,415	up 9
30	Benjamin	13,061	down 1
31	Thomas	12,889	same
32	Kevin	12,510	down 4
33	Jose	12,374	down 1
34	Nathan	11,586	same
35	Cameron	11,416	up 10
36	Hunter	11,078	up 8
37	Aaron	10,552	down 4
38	Ethan	10,536	up 8
39	Eric	9,964	down 4
40	Jason	9,399	up 1
41	Brian	9,146	down 4
42	Caleb	9,028	up 5
43	Cody	8,810	down 7
44	Logan	8,640	down 2
45	Adam	8,356	down 6
46	Steven	8,115	down 6
47	Connor	7,906	up 5
48	Charles	7,849	up 1
49	Timothy	7,845	down 6
50	Sean	7,712	down 2
51	Jared	7,462	up 5
52	Juan	7,361	up 2
53	Luis	7,202	same
54	Gabriel	7,068	up 3
55	Alex	6,954	same
56	Richard	6,954	down 5
57	Patrick	6,734	down 7
58	Trevor	6,598	up 4
59	Isaiah	6,487	up 1
60	Nathaniel	6,427	up 5
61	Jack	6,376	up 15
62	Devin	6,218	down 3
63	Evan	6,084	down 2
64	Mark	5,893	down 6
65	Isaac	5,859	up 8
66	Elijah	5,662	up 8
67	Chase	5,562	up 10
68	Jeremy	5,541	down 4
69	Carlos	5,481	down 2
70	Jesse	5,444	down 7
71	Adrian	5,429	up 24
72	Dakota	5,401	down 6
73	Ian	5,353	down 3
74	Bryan	5,309	down 5
75	Luke	5,284	up 3
76	Jesus	5,217	down 5
77	Cole	5,148	down 5
78	Stephen	5,013	down 10
79	Antonio	4,943	down 4
80	Garrett	4,789	up 5
81	Angel	4,772	up 5
82	Tanner	4,704	same
83	Mason	4,658	up 6
84	Spencer	4,619	up 20
85	Blake	4,607	down 5
86	Seth	4,587	up 11
87	Kenneth	4,586	down 4
88	Dalton	4,565	up 2
89	Paul	4,321	down 10
90	Miguel	4,256	up 1
91	Jeffrey	4,191	down 7
92	Tristan	4,169	same
93	Lucas	4,093	up 5
94	Bryce	4,053	up 18
95	Alejandro	4,044	up 4
96	Marcus	4,015	down 3
97	Victor	3,997	up 8
98	Travis	3,924	down 17
99	Brendan	3,879	up 8
100	Jackson	3,861	up 24

Biggest climbers in 1998

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1997.

Girls

Mya: up 757 places, from 995th to 238th
Camryn: up 484 places, from 851st to 367th
Madelynn: up 313 places, from 944th to 631st
Gracie: up 289 places, from 909th to 620th
Ava: up 268 places, from 618th to 350th
Kayley: up 247 places, from 802nd to 555th
Taya: up 219 places, from 857th to 638th
Nathalie: up 213 places, from 659th to 446th
Jaden: up 209 places, from 972nd to 763rd
Annabelle: up 207 places, from 848th to 641st

Boys

Dawson: up 559 places, from 734th to 175th
Ronaldo: up 333 places, from 885th to 552nd
Kobe: up 290 places, from 553rd to 263rd
Tariq: up 287 places, from 731st to 444th
Camron: up 276 places, from 737th to 461st
Amari: up 235 places, from 914th to 679th
Orion: up 226 places, from 765th to 539th
Braydon: up 202 places, from 832nd to 630th
Jacoby: up 190 places, from 955th to 765th
Rylan: up 182 places, from 844th to 662nd

New to the top 1,000 in 1998

Girls

Ally, 417th (its first time ever)
Kamryn, 554th (its first time ever)
Calista, 697th (its first time ever)
Brynn, 721st (back after dropping out)
Dejah, 784th (back after dropping out)
Myah, 787th (its first time ever)
Reanna, 788th (its first time ever)
Madilyn, 803rd (its first time ever)
Tasia, 804th (back after dropping out)
Felicity, 818th (its first time ever)

Boys

Tyrese, 612th (its first time ever)
Tyrek, 693rd (its first time ever)
Zion, 695th (its first time ever)
Declan, 712th (its first time ever)
Savion, 732nd (its first time ever)
Kamron, 745th (its first time ever)
Jadon, 755th (its first time ever)
Tyrique, 757th (its first time ever)
Tahj, 772nd (its first time ever)
Tyriq, 776th (its first time ever)

How spread out were names in 1998?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 11.2% of the girls counted in 1998, and the top ten boys' names to 14.7% of the boys. In 1978, those shares were 16.5% for girls and 24.6% 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.