Most Popular Baby Names of 2002

In 2002, Emily was the most popular name for girls, given to 24,470 babies, and Jacob topped the boys' list with 30,586. Emily held on to number one for a seventh year in a row, and Jacob held on to number one for a fourth year in a row.

Social Security counted 1,796,882 girls and 1,941,514 boys born in 2002 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 18,086 different girls' names and 12,489 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 2002

Top girls' names, 2002
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 2001
1	Emily	24,470	same
2	Madison	21,774	same
3	Hannah	18,828	same
4	Emma	16,558	up 9
5	Alexis	15,636	same
6	Ashley	15,344	down 2
7	Abigail	15,303	up 1
8	Sarah	14,779	down 2
9	Samantha	14,671	down 2
10	Olivia	14,631	same
11	Elizabeth	14,621	down 2
12	Alyssa	12,847	up 2
13	Lauren	12,327	up 2
14	Isabella	12,171	up 14
15	Grace	12,056	up 1
16	Jessica	11,921	down 5
17	Brianna	11,524	up 1
18	Taylor	11,468	down 6
19	Kayla	11,310	down 2
20	Anna	10,398	down 1
21	Victoria	9,785	same
22	Megan	9,210	down 2
23	Sydney	9,034	same
24	Rachel	8,944	same
25	Chloe	8,902	up 5
26	Jasmine	8,869	down 1
27	Sophia	8,665	up 10
28	Jennifer	8,540	down 2
29	Morgan	8,433	same
30	Natalie	8,352	up 2
31	Hailey	7,992	up 2
32	Kaitlyn	7,981	down 1
33	Julia	7,965	down 6
34	Destiny	7,804	down 12
35	Haley	7,457	down 1
36	Katherine	7,212	down 1
37	Nicole	6,974	down 1
38	Alexandra	6,936	same
39	Savannah	6,581	up 3
40	Maria	6,391	up 1
41	Stephanie	6,270	up 2
42	Mackenzie	6,268	down 2
43	Mia	6,259	up 33
44	Allison	6,239	same
45	Jordan	6,152	up 2
46	Amanda	6,145	down 7
47	Jenna	5,664	down 2
48	Faith	5,527	up 5
49	Mary	5,487	down 1
50	Makayla	5,476	up 4
51	Paige	5,470	up 20
52	Brooke	5,338	up 5
53	Katelyn	5,267	down 1
54	Rebecca	5,222	down 8
55	Andrea	5,118	down 6
56	Madeline	5,114	same
57	Kaylee	4,983	up 9
58	Michelle	4,950	up 1
59	Sara	4,945	down 1
60	Zoe	4,887	up 5
61	Kylie	4,833	up 34
62	Sierra	4,807	down 7
63	Kimberly	4,790	down 2
64	Aaliyah	4,779	up 32
65	Amber	4,723	down 14
66	Gabrielle	4,669	down 16
67	Caroline	4,657	down 5
68	Vanessa	4,455	down 4
69	Alexa	4,401	up 9
70	Trinity	4,385	down 3
71	Danielle	4,205	down 8
72	Erin	4,145	down 12
73	Autumn	4,104	down 1
74	Angelina	3,981	up 19
75	Shelby	3,961	down 7
76	Gabriella	3,910	up 7
77	Riley	3,906	up 29
78	Jada	3,899	down 3
79	Lily	3,834	up 24
80	Melissa	3,769	down 6
81	Jacqueline	3,754	down 11
82	Ava	3,751	up 50
83	Angela	3,714	down 6
84	Bailey	3,662	down 15
85	Isabel	3,651	up 3
86	Jade	3,630	up 12
87	Leah	3,604	same
88	Courtney	3,580	down 15
89	Ella	3,567	up 101
90	Maya	3,545	up 20
91	Leslie	3,522	down 7
92	Jocelyn	3,521	up 31
93	Ariana	3,492	down 1
94	Melanie	3,484	up 23
95	Claire	3,406	down 13
96	Lillian	3,397	up 15
97	Christina	3,391	down 17
98	Evelyn	3,372	up 28
99	Marissa	3,317	down 20
100	Audrey	3,306	up 12

Top boys' names, 2002
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 2001
1	Jacob	30,586	same
2	Michael	28,258	same
3	Joshua	25,998	up 1
4	Matthew	25,154	down 1
5	Ethan	22,113	up 12
6	Andrew	22,037	up 1
7	Joseph	21,920	up 1
8	Christopher	21,689	down 3
9	Nicholas	21,390	down 3
10	Daniel	21,352	down 1
11	William	20,136	down 1
12	Anthony	19,590	down 1
13	David	18,704	down 1
14	Tyler	18,266	down 1
15	Alexander	17,718	up 5
16	Ryan	17,658	down 1
17	John	17,477	down 3
18	James	16,968	up 1
19	Zachary	16,622	down 3
20	Brandon	16,282	down 2
21	Jonathan	15,514	up 2
22	Justin	14,906	same
23	Dylan	14,821	down 2
24	Christian	14,597	same
25	Samuel	14,579	up 1
26	Austin	14,542	down 1
27	Benjamin	13,492	same
28	Nathan	13,224	up 3
29	Logan	12,974	same
30	Jose	12,868	up 4
31	Noah	12,076	down 3
32	Gabriel	12,059	up 6
33	Kevin	12,046	down 1
34	Robert	12,031	down 4
35	Caleb	11,665	up 2
36	Thomas	11,293	down 3
37	Jordan	11,152	up 2
38	Hunter	11,085	down 2
39	Cameron	10,339	down 4
40	Kyle	10,064	same
41	Elijah	10,053	up 4
42	Jason	9,956	down 1
43	Aaron	9,008	down 1
44	Jack	9,000	up 4
45	Isaiah	8,965	down 2
46	Luke	8,692	up 4
47	Connor	8,409	up 2
48	Isaac	8,312	down 1
49	Angel	8,192	up 9
50	Jackson	8,153	up 10
51	Brian	8,082	down 5
52	Eric	7,928	down 8
53	Mason	7,878	up 1
54	Juan	7,820	down 1
55	Adam	7,754	down 4
56	Evan	7,386	same
57	Luis	7,379	down 5
58	Charles	7,208	down 3
59	Sean	7,028	down 2
60	Aidan	6,954	up 26
61	Gavin	6,951	up 17
62	Nathaniel	6,813	down 1
63	Alex	6,807	down 1
64	Bryan	6,617	up 5
65	Carlos	6,592	down 6
66	Jesus	6,371	same
67	Ian	6,360	up 3
68	Steven	6,222	down 5
69	Cole	6,038	up 5
70	Timothy	6,020	down 3
71	Cody	5,939	down 7
72	Seth	5,740	down 4
73	Adrian	5,684	up 2
74	Devin	5,440	down 3
75	Lucas	5,381	up 8
76	Blake	5,358	up 1
77	Richard	5,322	down 4
78	Julian	5,223	up 4
79	Patrick	5,153	down 7
80	Sebastian	5,137	up 1
81	Trevor	5,060	down 5
82	Chase	4,858	down 3
83	Dominic	4,855	up 23
84	Jared	4,837	down 19
85	Antonio	4,730	same
86	Jeremiah	4,720	up 4
87	Jaden	4,651	up 27
88	Xavier	4,648	up 6
89	Miguel	4,644	down 2
90	Jesse	4,431	up 1
91	Garrett	4,357	down 11
92	Alejandro	4,356	down 4
93	Mark	4,222	down 9
94	Owen	4,190	up 36
95	Jeremy	4,166	down 6
96	Hayden	4,142	up 21
97	Bryce	4,068	down 5
98	Diego	3,979	up 41
99	Riley	3,959	up 6
100	Victor	3,935	down 4

Biggest climbers in 2002

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 2001.

Girls

Ashanti: up 710 places, from 825th to 115th
Nyla: up 416 places, from 869th to 453rd
Jimena: up 325 places, from 875th to 550th
Reese: up 318 places, from 783rd to 465th
Shakira: up 316 places, from 852nd to 536th
Kaia: up 309 places, from 893rd to 584th
Lana: up 274 places, from 942nd to 668th
Ximena: up 269 places, from 873rd to 604th
Liberty: up 264 places, from 747th to 483rd
Taliyah: up 259 places, from 944th to 685th

Boys

Caiden: up 297 places, from 978th to 681st
Alessandro: up 255 places, from 969th to 714th
Jahiem: up 248 places, from 989th to 741st
Omari: up 239 places, from 939th to 700th
Aldo: up 225 places, from 635th to 410th
Alijah: up 225 places, from 909th to 684th
Brodie: up 224 places, from 927th to 703rd
Xander: up 211 places, from 755th to 544th
Landen: up 203 places, from 679th to 476th
Ayden: up 185 places, from 506th to 321st

New to the top 1,000 in 2002

Girls

Elle, 612th (its first time ever)
Lisbeth, 624th (its first time ever)
Lola, 753rd (back after dropping out)
Evelin, 765th (its first time ever)
Makena, 774th (its first time ever)
Kendal, 795th (back after dropping out)
Joslyn, 798th (back after dropping out)
Belen, 802nd (back after dropping out)
Jaliyah, 820th (its first time ever)
Emerson, 833rd (its first time ever)

Boys

Omarion, 535th (its first time ever)
Yahir, 604th (its first time ever)
Kenyon, 709th (back after dropping out)
Amarion, 720th (its first time ever)
Gael, 722nd (its first time ever)
Waylon, 759th (back after dropping out)
Cael, 778th (its first time ever)
Treyton, 829th (its first time ever)
Tavion, 858th (back after dropping out)
Aditya, 866th (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 2002?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 9.6% of the girls counted in 2002, and the top ten boys' names to 12.4% of the boys. In 1982, those shares were 17.3% for girls and 23.9% 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.