Popular names of 1991, and how old they are now

People born in 1991 turn 35 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 3.9 million births in 1991 under names it lists, and by our estimate about 97% of them are still alive: about 3.8 million people.

The year's top names were Ashley 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 1991: Kayla, Shelby, Ariel, Molly, Bianca, Kara, Ana, Roberto, Kirsten, Iesha, Mercedes and Ashleigh.

Top girl names of 1991

Most popular girl names of 1991
#	Name	Born 1991	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Ashley	43,477	42,000	33
2	Jessica	43,398	42,000	38
3	Brittany	29,093	28,000	35
4	Amanda	28,896	28,000	39
5	Samantha	25,651	25,000	30
6	Sarah	25,233	25,000	39
7	Stephanie	22,775	22,000	43
8	Jennifer	20,673	20,000	46
9	Elizabeth	20,395	20,000	44
10	Emily	20,311	20,000	29
11	Megan	19,278	19,000	35
12	Kayla	18,545	18,000	28
13	Lauren	18,412	18,000	33
14	Rachel	16,344	16,000	38
15	Nicole	16,046	16,000	39
16	Amber	14,992	15,000	37
17	Danielle	13,619	13,000	38
18	Chelsea	13,509	13,000	32
19	Courtney	13,441	13,000	36
20	Melissa	13,348	13,000	46
21	Rebecca	13,298	13,000	48
22	Michelle	12,213	12,000	48
23	Heather	11,703	11,000	45
24	Jasmine	11,524	11,000	27
25	Katherine	11,495	11,000	43
26	Kelsey	11,435	11,000	31
27	Tiffany	11,155	11,000	40
28	Victoria	10,912	11,000	34
29	Hannah	10,769	11,000	25
30	Alyssa	10,678	10,000	26
31	Christina	10,564	10,000	44
32	Taylor	10,253	10,000	27
33	Shelby	10,220	10,000	33
34	Kimberly	9,799	9,600	48
35	Laura	9,644	9,400	51
36	Alexandra	9,460	9,200	28
37	Sara	8,846	8,600	40
38	Mary	8,764	8,600	66
39	Andrea	7,995	7,800	42
40	Erica	7,800	7,600	40
41	Crystal	7,727	7,500	43
42	Kelly	7,515	7,300	48
43	Amy	7,275	7,100	47
44	Erin	7,207	7,000	39
45	Maria	7,136	7,000	45
46	Anna	7,119	7,000	39
47	Alexis	7,009	6,800	26
48	Kristen	6,816	6,700	41
49	Morgan	6,794	6,600	27
50	Allison	6,773	6,600	31

Top boy names of 1991

Most popular boy names of 1991
#	Name	Born 1991	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Michael	60,810	58,000	49
2	Christopher	47,111	45,000	41
3	Matthew	41,647	40,000	36
4	Joshua	41,226	39,000	33
5	Andrew	31,539	30,000	36
6	Daniel	30,935	30,000	42
7	James	30,514	29,000	54
8	David	30,416	29,000	52
9	Joseph	29,840	29,000	45
10	John	27,809	27,000	55
11	Ryan	27,536	26,000	33
12	Nicholas	27,357	26,000	33
13	Robert	26,839	26,000	58
14	Justin	26,797	26,000	34
15	Brandon	26,021	25,000	33
16	Tyler	25,209	24,000	28
17	Jacob	25,200	24,000	26
18	Anthony	24,447	23,000	40
19	William	23,860	23,000	51
20	Jonathan	22,975	22,000	35
21	Kyle	21,610	21,000	34
22	Zachary	21,387	20,000	29
23	Kevin	20,262	19,000	45
24	Cody	18,980	18,000	31
25	Eric	18,051	17,000	44
26	Alexander	17,640	17,000	26
27	Steven	16,863	16,000	52
28	Thomas	16,789	16,000	53
29	Jordan	16,020	15,000	26
30	Brian	14,915	14,000	48
31	Aaron	14,242	14,000	34
32	Timothy	14,154	14,000	50
33	Benjamin	13,877	13,000	30
34	Richard	12,553	12,000	60
35	Patrick	12,412	12,000	47
36	Adam	12,308	12,000	35
37	Jose	11,727	11,000	34
38	Charles	11,336	11,000	54
39	Samuel	11,234	11,000	32
40	Sean	11,182	11,000	38
41	Stephen	10,525	10,000	54
42	Nathan	10,500	10,000	30
43	Jeremy	10,403	10,000	39
44	Travis	10,134	9,700	39
45	Jeffrey	9,894	9,500	53
46	Dylan	9,763	9,300	21
47	Mark	9,684	9,300	56
48	Christian	9,447	9,000	26
49	Jason	9,387	9,000	42
50	Austin	9,054	8,700	26

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 1991, 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 1991. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 1991 babies. How we calculate this