Popular names of 2008, and how old they are now

People born in 2008 turn 18 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 3.9 million births in 2008 under names it lists, and by our estimate about 99% of them are still alive: about 3.9 million people.

The year's top names were Emma 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 2008: Gabriel, Riley, Hayden, Adrian, Brody, Makayla, Payton, Madelyn, Valeria, Jonah, Jaiden and Emmanuel.

Top girl names of 2008

Most popular girl names of 2008
#	Name	Born 2008	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Emma	18,830	19,000	20
2	Isabella	18,629	18,000	15
3	Emily	17,448	17,000	29
4	Olivia	17,088	17,000	18
5	Ava	17,051	17,000	14
6	Madison	17,047	17,000	20
7	Sophia	16,091	16,000	16
8	Abigail	15,088	15,000	21
9	Elizabeth	12,027	12,000	44
10	Chloe	11,836	12,000	17
11	Samantha	11,190	11,000	30
12	Addison	10,767	11,000	15
13	Natalie	10,201	10,000	29
14	Mia	10,173	10,000	15
15	Alexis	9,734	9,600	26
16	Alyssa	9,653	9,600	26
17	Hannah	9,577	9,500	25
18	Ashley	9,408	9,300	33
19	Ella	9,364	9,300	22
20	Sarah	9,055	9,000	39
21	Grace	9,042	9,000	27
22	Taylor	8,344	8,300	27
23	Brianna	8,278	8,200	25
24	Lily	8,128	8,100	16
25	Hailey	7,872	7,800	19
26	Anna	7,278	7,200	39
27	Victoria	7,127	7,100	34
28	Kayla	6,835	6,800	28
29	Lillian	6,817	6,800	29
30	Lauren	6,455	6,400	33
31	Kaylee	6,302	6,200	19
32	Allison	6,241	6,200	31
33	Savannah	6,134	6,100	20
34	Nevaeh	6,112	6,100	14
35	Gabriella	6,039	6,000	18
36	Sofia	5,985	5,900	14
37	Makayla	5,957	5,900	20
38	Avery	5,829	5,800	15
39	Riley	5,774	5,700	17
40	Leah	5,634	5,600	28
41	Julia	5,620	5,600	38
42	Aubrey	5,570	5,500	20
43	Jasmine	5,536	5,500	27
44	Audrey	5,443	5,400	34
45	Katherine	5,350	5,300	43
46	Morgan	5,333	5,300	27
47	Destiny	5,320	5,300	24
48	Brooklyn	5,317	5,300	15
49	Sydney	5,264	5,200	24
50	Alexa	5,226	5,200	21

Top boy names of 2008

Most popular boy names of 2008
#	Name	Born 2008	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Jacob	22,621	22,000	26
2	Michael	20,652	20,000	49
3	Ethan	20,223	20,000	19
4	Joshua	19,231	19,000	33
5	Daniel	19,032	19,000	42
6	Alexander	18,711	18,000	26
7	Anthony	18,417	18,000	40
8	William	18,403	18,000	51
9	Christopher	17,966	18,000	41
10	Matthew	17,604	17,000	36
11	Jayden	17,167	17,000	14
12	Andrew	16,779	17,000	36
13	Joseph	16,599	16,000	45
14	David	16,347	16,000	52
15	Noah	15,808	16,000	16
16	Aiden	15,592	15,000	13
17	James	15,190	15,000	54
18	Ryan	14,686	15,000	33
19	Logan	13,861	14,000	19
20	John	13,336	13,000	55
21	Nathan	13,262	13,000	30
22	Elijah	13,241	13,000	16
23	Christian	13,069	13,000	26
24	Gabriel	13,041	13,000	23
25	Benjamin	12,958	13,000	30
26	Jonathan	12,905	13,000	35
27	Samuel	12,774	13,000	32
28	Tyler	12,709	13,000	28
29	Nicholas	12,533	12,000	33
30	Gavin	11,752	12,000	19
31	Dylan	11,710	12,000	21
32	Jackson	11,641	12,000	16
33	Brandon	11,482	11,000	33
34	Caleb	10,579	10,000	21
35	Mason	10,489	10,000	16
36	Angel	10,357	10,000	25
37	Isaac	10,030	9,900	21
38	Evan	9,926	9,800	24
39	Jack	9,897	9,800	34
40	Jose	9,826	9,700	34
41	Kevin	9,798	9,700	45
42	Isaiah	9,670	9,600	18
43	Luke	9,424	9,300	21
44	Justin	9,365	9,300	34
45	Landon	9,361	9,300	17
46	Lucas	9,328	9,200	18
47	Zachary	9,235	9,100	29
48	Jordan	9,099	9,000	26
49	Robert	8,841	8,700	58
50	Aaron	8,545	8,400	34

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 2008, 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 2008. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 2008 babies. How we calculate this