Popular names of 1997, and how old they are now

People born in 1997 turn 29 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 3.6 million births in 1997 under names it lists, and by our estimate about 98% of them are still alive: about 3.5 million people.

The year's top names were Emily for girls and Michael for boys. Babies born that year are in Gen Z (see Gen Z names).

12 names on AgeByName had their busiest year ever in 1997: Sabrina, Antonio, Michaela, Grant, Guadalupe, Asia, Armando, Mikaela, Baylee, Trevon, Keenan and Duncan.

Top girl names of 1997

Most popular girl names of 1997
#	Name	Born 1997	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Emily	25,734	25,000	29
2	Jessica	21,045	21,000	38
3	Ashley	20,897	21,000	33
4	Sarah	20,716	20,000	39
5	Hannah	20,597	20,000	25
6	Samantha	20,170	20,000	30
7	Taylor	19,504	19,000	27
8	Alexis	17,171	17,000	26
9	Elizabeth	15,430	15,000	44
10	Madison	15,189	15,000	20
11	Megan	14,244	14,000	35
12	Kayla	13,885	14,000	28
13	Rachel	13,798	14,000	38
14	Lauren	13,248	13,000	33
15	Alyssa	12,649	12,000	26
16	Amanda	12,243	12,000	39
17	Brianna	12,008	12,000	25
18	Jennifer	11,840	12,000	46
19	Victoria	11,795	12,000	34
20	Brittany	11,529	11,000	35
21	Nicole	10,744	11,000	39
22	Morgan	10,342	10,000	27
23	Stephanie	9,778	9,600	43
24	Jasmine	9,680	9,500	27
25	Rebecca	9,634	9,500	48
26	Abigail	9,630	9,500	21
27	Olivia	9,479	9,300	18
28	Courtney	9,035	8,900	36
29	Amber	8,914	8,800	37
30	Alexandra	8,752	8,600	28
31	Haley	8,687	8,600	27
32	Katherine	8,518	8,400	43
33	Anna	8,342	8,200	39
34	Danielle	8,034	7,900	38
35	Sydney	8,032	7,900	24
36	Emma	7,749	7,600	20
37	Julia	7,341	7,200	38
38	Maria	7,314	7,200	45
39	Allison	7,274	7,200	31
40	Jordan	7,167	7,100	26
41	Kaitlyn	7,005	6,900	26
42	Destiny	6,727	6,600	24
43	Shelby	6,701	6,600	33
44	Melissa	6,679	6,600	46
45	Brooke	6,671	6,600	29
46	Mary	6,650	6,500	66
47	Savannah	6,580	6,500	20
48	Natalie	6,539	6,400	29
49	Kimberly	6,182	6,100	48
50	Sara	6,159	6,100	40

Top boy names of 1997

Most popular boy names of 1997
#	Name	Born 1997	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Michael	37,562	37,000	49
2	Jacob	34,163	33,000	26
3	Matthew	31,517	31,000	36
4	Christopher	29,108	28,000	41
5	Joshua	28,289	28,000	33
6	Nicholas	27,258	27,000	33
7	Andrew	25,208	25,000	36
8	Brandon	25,197	24,000	33
9	Austin	25,118	24,000	26
10	Tyler	24,879	24,000	28
11	Daniel	23,950	23,000	42
12	Joseph	23,604	23,000	45
13	Zachary	21,929	21,000	29
14	David	21,896	21,000	52
15	John	21,386	21,000	55
16	Ryan	20,527	20,000	33
17	James	20,408	20,000	54
18	Anthony	20,034	19,000	40
19	William	20,020	19,000	51
20	Justin	18,745	18,000	34
21	Jonathan	18,542	18,000	35
22	Alexander	17,112	17,000	26
23	Robert	16,304	16,000	58
24	Kyle	15,919	15,000	34
25	Christian	15,059	15,000	26
26	Jordan	14,761	14,000	26
27	Samuel	14,237	14,000	32
28	Kevin	13,295	13,000	45
29	Benjamin	13,266	13,000	30
30	Dylan	12,968	13,000	21
31	Thomas	12,899	13,000	53
32	Jose	11,929	12,000	34
33	Aaron	11,170	11,000	34
34	Nathan	10,442	10,000	30
35	Eric	10,317	10,000	44
36	Cody	10,296	10,000	31
37	Brian	9,739	9,500	48
38	Noah	9,280	9,000	16
39	Adam	8,805	8,600	35
40	Steven	8,765	8,500	52
41	Jason	8,746	8,500	42
42	Logan	8,620	8,400	19
43	Timothy	8,502	8,300	50
44	Hunter	8,405	8,200	20
45	Cameron	8,219	8,000	23
46	Ethan	7,807	7,600	19
47	Caleb	7,775	7,600	21
48	Sean	7,744	7,500	38
49	Charles	7,656	7,400	54
50	Patrick	7,490	7,300	47

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 1997, 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 1997. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 1997 babies. How we calculate this