Popular names of 2002, and how old they are now

People born in 2002 turn 24 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 3.7 million births in 2002 under names it lists, and by our estimate about 98% of them are still alive: about 3.7 million people.

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

12 names on AgeByName had their busiest year ever in 2002: Jose, Caleb, Nathaniel, Cole, Jade, Ashanti, Alexia, Lizbeth, Mckenna, Halle, Paulina and Jaylon.

Top girl names of 2002

Most popular girl names of 2002
#	Name	Born 2002	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Emily	24,470	24,000	29
2	Madison	21,774	22,000	20
3	Hannah	18,828	19,000	25
4	Emma	16,558	16,000	20
5	Alexis	15,636	15,000	26
6	Ashley	15,344	15,000	33
7	Abigail	15,303	15,000	21
8	Sarah	14,779	15,000	39
9	Samantha	14,671	14,000	30
10	Olivia	14,631	14,000	18
11	Elizabeth	14,621	14,000	44
12	Alyssa	12,847	13,000	26
13	Lauren	12,327	12,000	33
14	Isabella	12,171	12,000	15
15	Grace	12,056	12,000	27
16	Jessica	11,921	12,000	38
17	Brianna	11,524	11,000	25
18	Taylor	11,468	11,000	27
19	Kayla	11,310	11,000	28
20	Anna	10,398	10,000	39
21	Victoria	9,785	9,700	34
22	Megan	9,210	9,100	35
23	Sydney	9,034	8,900	24
24	Rachel	8,944	8,800	38
25	Chloe	8,902	8,800	17
26	Jasmine	8,869	8,800	27
27	Sophia	8,665	8,600	16
28	Jennifer	8,540	8,400	46
29	Morgan	8,433	8,300	27
30	Natalie	8,352	8,300	29
31	Hailey	7,992	7,900	19
32	Kaitlyn	7,981	7,900	26
33	Julia	7,965	7,900	38
34	Destiny	7,804	7,700	24
35	Haley	7,457	7,400	27
36	Katherine	7,212	7,100	43
37	Nicole	6,974	6,900	39
38	Alexandra	6,936	6,900	28
39	Savannah	6,581	6,500	20
40	Maria	6,391	6,300	45
41	Stephanie	6,270	6,200	43
42	Mackenzie	6,268	6,200	21
43	Mia	6,259	6,200	15
44	Allison	6,239	6,200	31
45	Jordan	6,152	6,100	26
46	Amanda	6,145	6,100	39
47	Jenna	5,664	5,600	29
48	Faith	5,527	5,500	27
49	Mary	5,487	5,400	66
50	Makayla	5,476	5,400	20

Top boy names of 2002

Most popular boy names of 2002
#	Name	Born 2002	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Jacob	30,586	30,000	26
2	Michael	28,258	28,000	49
3	Joshua	25,998	26,000	33
4	Matthew	25,154	25,000	36
5	Ethan	22,113	22,000	19
6	Andrew	22,037	22,000	36
7	Joseph	21,920	22,000	45
8	Christopher	21,689	21,000	41
9	Nicholas	21,390	21,000	33
10	Daniel	21,352	21,000	42
11	William	20,136	20,000	51
12	Anthony	19,590	19,000	40
13	David	18,704	18,000	52
14	Tyler	18,266	18,000	28
15	Alexander	17,718	17,000	26
16	Ryan	17,658	17,000	33
17	John	17,477	17,000	55
18	James	16,968	17,000	54
19	Zachary	16,622	16,000	29
20	Brandon	16,282	16,000	33
21	Jonathan	15,514	15,000	35
22	Justin	14,906	15,000	34
23	Dylan	14,821	15,000	21
24	Christian	14,597	14,000	26
25	Samuel	14,579	14,000	32
26	Austin	14,542	14,000	26
27	Benjamin	13,492	13,000	30
28	Nathan	13,224	13,000	30
29	Logan	12,974	13,000	19
30	Jose	12,868	13,000	34
31	Noah	12,076	12,000	16
32	Gabriel	12,059	12,000	23
33	Kevin	12,046	12,000	45
34	Robert	12,031	12,000	58
35	Caleb	11,665	11,000	21
36	Thomas	11,293	11,000	53
37	Jordan	11,152	11,000	26
38	Hunter	11,085	11,000	20
39	Cameron	10,339	10,000	23
40	Kyle	10,064	9,900	34
41	Elijah	10,053	9,900	16
42	Jason	9,956	9,800	42
43	Aaron	9,008	8,800	34
44	Jack	9,000	8,800	34
45	Isaiah	8,965	8,800	18
46	Luke	8,692	8,500	21
47	Connor	8,409	8,200	20
48	Isaac	8,312	8,200	21
49	Angel	8,192	8,000	25
50	Jackson	8,153	8,000	16

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 2002, 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 2002. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 2002 babies. How we calculate this