Popular names of 1989, and how old they are now

People born in 1989 turn 37 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 3.8 million births in 1989 under names it lists, and by our estimate about 96% of them are still alive: about 3.7 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 1989: Joshua, Brittany, Lauren, Benjamin, Aaron, Travis, Derek, Corey, Brittney, Cory, Britney and Alisha.

Top girl names of 1989

Most popular girl names of 1989
#	Name	Born 1989	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Jessica	47,887	47,000	38
2	Ashley	47,588	46,000	33
3	Brittany	37,792	37,000	35
4	Amanda	36,834	36,000	39
5	Sarah	27,797	27,000	39
6	Samantha	24,792	24,000	30
7	Jennifer	24,006	23,000	46
8	Stephanie	22,766	22,000	43
9	Lauren	21,065	21,000	33
10	Elizabeth	20,298	20,000	44
11	Megan	19,780	19,000	35
12	Nicole	19,032	19,000	39
13	Emily	17,323	17,000	29
14	Amber	16,760	16,000	37
15	Heather	16,248	16,000	45
16	Tiffany	15,716	15,000	40
17	Danielle	15,366	15,000	38
18	Rachel	15,357	15,000	38
19	Melissa	15,203	15,000	46
20	Kayla	14,903	15,000	28
21	Courtney	13,452	13,000	36
22	Michelle	13,376	13,000	48
23	Christina	13,141	13,000	44
24	Rebecca	12,436	12,000	48
25	Laura	11,740	11,000	51
26	Katherine	11,415	11,000	43
27	Chelsea	11,252	11,000	32
28	Kimberly	11,037	11,000	48
29	Sara	9,706	9,400	40
30	Jasmine	9,549	9,300	27
31	Kelsey	9,256	9,000	31
32	Crystal	9,103	8,900	43
33	Alyssa	9,042	8,800	26
34	Erica	9,025	8,800	40
35	Amy	8,899	8,700	47
36	Kristen	8,803	8,600	41
37	Kelly	8,759	8,500	48
38	Mary	8,645	8,400	66
39	Andrea	8,410	8,200	42
40	Erin	8,144	7,900	39
41	Brittney	7,834	7,600	34
42	Hannah	7,830	7,600	25
43	Alexandra	7,680	7,500	28
44	Victoria	7,637	7,400	34
45	Katie	7,290	7,100	37
46	Allison	7,282	7,100	31
47	Angela	7,199	7,000	49
48	Lindsey	7,069	6,900	36
49	Caitlin	7,025	6,800	32
50	Vanessa	6,962	6,800	37

Top boy names of 1989

Most popular boy names of 1989
#	Name	Born 1989	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Michael	65,415	62,000	49
2	Christopher	53,186	51,000	41
3	Matthew	45,375	43,000	36
4	Joshua	44,100	42,000	33
5	David	35,225	33,000	52
6	Daniel	35,007	33,000	42
7	Andrew	34,817	33,000	36
8	Justin	32,852	31,000	34
9	James	32,720	31,000	54
10	Robert	30,072	29,000	58
11	Joseph	29,884	28,000	45
12	John	29,853	28,000	55
13	Ryan	28,408	27,000	33
14	Nicholas	28,230	27,000	33
15	William	24,673	23,000	51
16	Anthony	24,423	23,000	40
17	Jonathan	23,608	22,000	35
18	Brandon	23,310	22,000	33
19	Kevin	21,209	20,000	45
20	Kyle	20,882	20,000	34
21	Eric	18,977	18,000	44
22	Steven	18,929	18,000	52
23	Thomas	18,439	18,000	53
24	Brian	18,106	17,000	48
25	Zachary	18,077	17,000	29
26	Jacob	17,831	17,000	26
27	Adam	16,928	16,000	35
28	Timothy	16,427	16,000	50
29	Benjamin	15,733	15,000	30
30	Tyler	15,594	15,000	28
31	Aaron	15,308	15,000	34
32	Alexander	14,523	14,000	26
33	Richard	14,133	13,000	60
34	Jeremy	13,081	12,000	39
35	Jason	12,614	12,000	42
36	Charles	12,245	12,000	54
37	Jeffrey	12,013	11,000	53
38	Patrick	11,987	11,000	47
39	Sean	11,895	11,000	38
40	Stephen	11,736	11,000	54
41	Travis	11,526	11,000	39
42	Mark	11,320	11,000	56
43	Nathan	10,904	10,000	30
44	Jordan	10,882	10,000	26
45	Cody	10,823	10,000	31
46	Jose	10,331	9,800	34
47	Samuel	10,107	9,600	32
48	Dustin	9,715	9,200	37
49	Paul	9,029	8,600	57
50	Jesse	8,853	8,400	39

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 1989, 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 1989. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 1989 babies. How we calculate this