Popular names of 1988, and how old they are now

People born in 1988 turn 38 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 3.7 million births in 1988 under names it lists, and by our estimate about 96% of them are still alive: about 3.5 million people.

The year's top names were Jessica for girls and Michael for boys. Babies born that year are Millennials (see Millennial names).

12 names on AgeByName had their busiest year ever in 1988: Justin, Jonathan, Tiffany, Caitlin, Jaclyn, Sasha, Justine, Terrance, Simone, Shaina, Ashlie and Chaz.

Top girl names of 1988

Most popular girl names of 1988
#	Name	Born 1988	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Jessica	51,556	50,000	38
2	Ashley	49,977	49,000	33
3	Amanda	39,459	38,000	39
4	Sarah	28,374	28,000	39
5	Jennifer	27,893	27,000	46
6	Brittany	26,816	26,000	35
7	Stephanie	22,843	22,000	43
8	Samantha	20,700	20,000	30
9	Nicole	20,315	20,000	39
10	Elizabeth	20,042	19,000	44
11	Lauren	19,637	19,000	33
12	Megan	18,570	18,000	35
13	Tiffany	18,364	18,000	40
14	Heather	18,033	18,000	45
15	Amber	16,676	16,000	37
16	Melissa	16,546	16,000	46
17	Danielle	16,253	16,000	38
18	Emily	15,869	15,000	29
19	Rachel	15,348	15,000	38
20	Kayla	13,433	13,000	28
21	Michelle	13,339	13,000	48
22	Christina	12,954	13,000	44
23	Laura	12,126	12,000	51
24	Courtney	12,043	12,000	36
25	Kimberly	11,948	12,000	48
26	Rebecca	11,877	12,000	48
27	Katherine	11,154	11,000	43
28	Crystal	10,101	9,800	43
29	Amy	10,034	9,800	47
30	Sara	10,020	9,700	40
31	Erica	9,591	9,300	40
32	Kelly	8,917	8,700	48
33	Chelsea	8,879	8,600	32
34	Mary	8,518	8,300	66
35	Andrea	8,392	8,200	42
36	Kristen	8,382	8,100	41
37	Erin	8,267	8,000	39
38	Angela	7,914	7,700	49
39	Whitney	7,853	7,600	36
40	Katie	7,770	7,600	37
41	Vanessa	7,516	7,300	37
42	Victoria	7,283	7,100	34
43	Lisa	7,267	7,100	56
44	Caitlin	7,246	7,000	32
45	Jamie	7,187	7,000	43
46	Allison	7,145	6,900	31
47	Alyssa	7,135	6,900	26
48	Lindsey	7,001	6,800	36
49	Alexandra	6,972	6,800	28
50	Alicia	6,700	6,500	41

Top boy names of 1988

Most popular boy names of 1988
#	Name	Born 1988	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Michael	64,171	61,000	49
2	Christopher	53,014	50,000	41
3	Matthew	45,876	44,000	36
4	Joshua	42,653	40,000	33
5	Andrew	35,745	34,000	36
6	David	35,329	34,000	52
7	Justin	35,055	33,000	34
8	Daniel	34,718	33,000	42
9	James	32,523	31,000	54
10	Robert	30,319	29,000	58
11	John	29,427	28,000	55
12	Joseph	29,019	28,000	45
13	Ryan	27,747	26,000	33
14	Nicholas	25,303	24,000	33
15	Jonathan	24,349	23,000	35
16	William	24,126	23,000	51
17	Brandon	23,744	23,000	33
18	Anthony	23,644	22,000	40
19	Eric	20,175	19,000	44
20	Kevin	20,168	19,000	45
21	Kyle	19,895	19,000	34
22	Brian	19,532	19,000	48
23	Thomas	18,806	18,000	53
24	Steven	17,865	17,000	52
25	Timothy	16,807	16,000	50
26	Adam	16,467	16,000	35
27	Jason	15,917	15,000	42
28	Jacob	15,883	15,000	26
29	Zachary	15,870	15,000	29
30	Benjamin	15,187	14,000	30
31	Aaron	14,408	14,000	34
32	Richard	14,144	13,000	60
33	Tyler	13,349	13,000	28
34	Alexander	13,341	13,000	26
35	Jeremy	13,169	12,000	39
36	Jeffrey	12,401	12,000	53
37	Charles	12,109	11,000	54
38	Sean	11,794	11,000	38
39	Mark	11,715	11,000	56
40	Stephen	11,607	11,000	54
41	Travis	11,423	11,000	39
42	Patrick	11,400	11,000	47
43	Cody	10,583	10,000	31
44	Nathan	10,154	9,600	30
45	Samuel	9,564	9,100	32
46	Paul	9,438	9,000	57
47	Scott	9,351	8,900	53
48	Dustin	9,337	8,900	37
49	Jose	9,007	8,500	34
50	Gregory	8,629	8,200	54

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 1988, from Social Security's records. “Alive today” estimates how many of them are still living, using SSA's cohort life tables for people born in 1988. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 1988 babies. How we calculate this