Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1986

In this article we'll look at what the most popular baby girl names are since 1986. These names are taken directly from the Social Security card applications for births that occurred in the United States.

The table below shows the top 50 most popular baby girl names since 1986, with a total count for the number of births registered with that given name since 1986.

Rank Name Count
1 Ashley 677,584
2 Emily 652,974
3 Jessica 621,484
4 Sarah 513,386
5 Samantha 498,197
6 Elizabeth 492,404
7 Emma 471,867
8 Olivia 458,981
9 Hannah 409,721
10 Amanda 408,677
11 Madison 398,927
12 Abigail 366,704
13 Isabella 362,174
14 Lauren 355,923
15 Sophia 354,497
16 Jennifer 348,861
17 Kayla 326,566
18 Brittany 322,022
19 Taylor 321,212
20 Alexis 315,336
21 Megan 314,362
22 Victoria 310,078
23 Stephanie 307,632
24 Rachel 302,816
25 Nicole 295,960
26 Alyssa 294,876
27 Ava 290,858
28 Natalie 256,927
29 Anna 251,903
30 Mia 251,569
31 Brianna 250,233
32 Katherine 243,665
33 Grace 240,684
34 Jasmine 236,986
35 Amber 230,107
36 Chloe 222,199
37 Danielle 221,640
38 Rebecca 220,782
39 Allison 218,946
40 Alexandra 214,306
41 Kimberly 206,911
42 Morgan 206,091
43 Melissa 205,654
44 Michelle 202,131
45 Courtney 188,706
46 Mary 185,772
47 Maria 185,674
48 Julia 184,738
49 Sara 180,808
50 Andrea 178,989

More Popular Baby Names

You can also use the links below to research more about the most popular baby names.

Top 1000 most popular boy names: 1-250 | 251-500 | 501-750 | 751-1000

Top 1000 most popular girl names: 1-250 | 251-500 | 501-750 | 751-1000

Historical Data for Baby Names

If you're interested to see how the trends and popularity of baby names have changed, you can use the links below to view the historical data by decade.

Most popular first names, 1880-present | since 1950 | since 1960 | since 1970 | since 1980 | since 1990 | since 2000 | since 2010

Most popular boy names, 1880-present | since 1950 | since 1960 | since 1970 | since 1980 | since 1990 | since 2000 | since 2010

Most popular girl names, 1880-present | since 1950 | since 1960 | since 1970 | since 1980 | since 1990 | since 2000 | since 2010

Data Source(s)

All of the data on this page is sourced from the Social Security Administration (SSA) and excludes any names with fewer than 5 occurrences in any geographic area.

Link To or Reference This Page

We spent a lot of time downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!

  • "Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1986". NameCensus.com. Accessed on March 21, 2023. https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-girl-names-since-1986/.

  • "Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1986". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-girl-names-since-1986/. Accessed 21 March, 2023

  • Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1986. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-girl-names-since-1986/.