Popular names of 1996, and how old they are now

People born in 1996 turn 30 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 3.6 million births in 1996 under names it lists, and by our estimate about 98% of them are still alive: about 3.6 million people.

The year's top names were Emily 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 1996: Christian, Brooke, Tristan, Mariah, Cheyenne, Breanna, Malik, Angelica, Collin, Chance, Rebekah and Shania.

Top girl names of 1996

Most popular girl names of 1996
#	Name	Born 1996	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Emily	25,150	25,000	29
2	Jessica	24,201	24,000	38
3	Ashley	23,678	23,000	33
4	Sarah	21,048	21,000	39
5	Samantha	20,552	20,000	30
6	Taylor	19,155	19,000	27
7	Hannah	18,596	18,000	25
8	Alexis	16,592	16,000	26
9	Rachel	16,121	16,000	38
10	Elizabeth	16,003	16,000	44
11	Kayla	15,269	15,000	28
12	Megan	14,770	15,000	35
13	Amanda	13,980	14,000	39
14	Brittany	13,797	14,000	35
15	Madison	13,412	13,000	20
16	Lauren	12,595	12,000	33
17	Brianna	11,925	12,000	25
18	Victoria	11,859	12,000	34
19	Jennifer	11,732	12,000	46
20	Stephanie	11,643	11,000	43
21	Courtney	11,344	11,000	36
22	Nicole	11,135	11,000	39
23	Alyssa	11,024	11,000	26
24	Rebecca	10,626	10,000	48
25	Morgan	10,295	10,000	27
26	Alexandra	10,025	9,900	28
27	Amber	9,771	9,600	37
28	Jasmine	9,707	9,500	27
29	Danielle	9,286	9,100	38
30	Haley	9,042	8,900	27
31	Katherine	8,877	8,700	43
32	Abigail	8,604	8,500	21
33	Anna	8,575	8,400	39
34	Olivia	8,126	8,000	18
35	Shelby	7,950	7,800	33
36	Kelsey	7,655	7,500	31
37	Maria	7,598	7,500	45
38	Allison	7,455	7,300	31
39	Sydney	7,259	7,100	24
40	Kaitlyn	7,241	7,100	26
41	Kimberly	7,176	7,100	48
42	Melissa	7,170	7,100	46
43	Savannah	7,000	6,900	20
44	Mary	6,968	6,900	66
45	Brooke	6,724	6,600	29
46	Natalie	6,693	6,600	29
47	Michelle	6,598	6,500	48
48	Julia	6,314	6,200	38
49	Jordan	6,299	6,200	26
50	Sara	6,288	6,200	40

Top boy names of 1996

Most popular boy names of 1996
#	Name	Born 1996	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Michael	38,373	37,000	49
2	Matthew	32,077	31,000	36
3	Jacob	31,925	31,000	26
4	Christopher	30,904	30,000	41
5	Joshua	29,175	28,000	33
6	Nicholas	27,724	27,000	33
7	Tyler	26,956	26,000	28
8	Brandon	25,847	25,000	33
9	Austin	25,663	25,000	26
10	Andrew	25,244	24,000	36
11	Daniel	25,128	24,000	42
12	Joseph	24,758	24,000	45
13	David	23,022	22,000	52
14	Zachary	22,369	22,000	29
15	John	22,188	22,000	55
16	Ryan	21,809	21,000	33
17	James	21,165	21,000	54
18	William	20,546	20,000	51
19	Anthony	20,508	20,000	40
20	Justin	20,015	19,000	34
21	Jonathan	18,602	18,000	35
22	Alexander	17,964	17,000	26
23	Robert	17,676	17,000	58
24	Christian	15,824	15,000	26
25	Kyle	15,600	15,000	34
26	Kevin	14,589	14,000	45
27	Jordan	13,852	13,000	26
28	Thomas	13,804	13,000	53
29	Benjamin	13,784	13,000	30
30	Samuel	13,629	13,000	32
31	Cody	12,954	13,000	31
32	Jose	12,155	12,000	34
33	Dylan	12,037	12,000	21
34	Aaron	11,971	12,000	34
35	Eric	11,611	11,000	44
36	Brian	10,476	10,000	48
37	Nathan	10,287	10,000	30
38	Steven	9,650	9,400	52
39	Adam	9,557	9,300	35
40	Timothy	8,919	8,700	50
41	Jason	8,695	8,400	42
42	Logan	8,374	8,100	19
43	Charles	8,248	8,000	54
44	Patrick	8,194	8,000	47
45	Richard	8,182	7,900	60
46	Sean	7,896	7,700	38
47	Hunter	7,603	7,400	20
48	Caleb	7,550	7,300	21
49	Cameron	7,388	7,200	23
50	Noah	7,184	7,000	16

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 1996, 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 1996. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 1996 babies. How we calculate this