The list of most popular baby names in the U.S. doesn’t change too dramatically from one year to the next, but looking back over decades, some interesting shifts and trends do emerge.
Knowing the Social Security Administration’s baby naming data goes back more than a century, we decided to take a look at the top names from two decades ago to see how they stack up to their ranking today.
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While popular picks from 2005 like Emma, Olivia and Michael remain in wide use today, others feel so 20 years ago. Think Tyler, Alexis and Alyssa. And who could’ve known how the connotation of the name Brandon would’ve shifted?
“Millennial names — those of the current generation of parents — have dropped significantly from 2005 to today,” Sophie Kihm, the editor-in-chief at the website Nameberry, told HuffPost. “Marissa is the fastest-falling girl name that was in 2005’s Top 100. Today, it’s outside of the Top 1,000. Along with Marissa, other Millennial names like Megan, Haley, and Katelyn for girls, Kyle, Cody, and Brandon for boys have fallen significantly since 2005 due to oversaturation and feeling tied to older generations.”
She noted that the names that have dropped the most in ranking between 2005 and today feel distinctly of another era.
“Names like Jennifer and Michelle, Brian and Eric were holding on in the Top 100 of 2005 but peaked in the 1970s, making them true Gen X names,” Kihm said. “Gen X is more likely to be the grandparents of today’s babies, and parents are largely avoiding their names for fresher options.”
At the same time, we’ve seen a revival of what Abby Sandel, the creator of the baby name blog Appellation Mountain, calls “old-school antiques.”
“Favorites of 2025 like Eleanor, Evelyn, and Hazel would’ve felt like granny names compared to Kayla, Taylor, and Destiny,” she said. “But now Megan is the mom, and she’s naming her baby Florence.”
Kihm also pointed to the decline of names ending in -ayden for boys and a counterpart to that trend ― names like Kaylee, Kailey, Kayleigh, Kaylie, Kaleigh, Kaley, Kayley and Kayli for girls.
“Girl names with a strong K sound like Katelyn, Kaitlyn, Katie, Kayla, Kimberly, Kylie, Kaylee, and Katherine each fell more than 100 spots, reflecting a shift toward today’s girl names with stronger vowel sounds, like Eleanor, Aurora, and Eliana,” she said.
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Interestingly, many names that were popular for boys in 2005 but have since fallen are two-syllable monikers ending with the letter ‘n.’
“Brandon and Gavin and Justin and Kevin all have history prior to 2005, of course,” Sandel said. “Along with names like Ethan, Ryan, Nathan, Logan, Dylan, Austin, and Evan, they came to define the default sound for a 21st century boy’s name.”
Although the ‘n’ ending hasn’t fully fallen out of favor, things have shifted a bit.
“Softer, more flowing names, like Liam, Julian, and Sebastian are wildly popular,” Sandel said. “Boys’ names ending with vowels, like Elijah, Luca, Theo, and Kai have become Top 100 go-tos. Twenty years ago, vowel-ending names were just starting to enter the mainstream. It’s a trend that continues to accelerate.”
Still, Kihm emphasized that many of the overarching themes in 2005’s top baby names remain present in 2025 ― they’ve just been replaced by different names.
“Instead of Irish names like Colin and Kevin, today’s boys are named Nolan and Rowan,” she explained. “Rather than spiritual choices like Destiny, Faith, and Trinity, names like Genesis and Serenity are fashionable for girls today. Classic Hispanic boy names like Alejandro, Miguel and Jesus have been usurped by Mateo, Santiago and Thiago.”
And of course former favorites like Alexa (and thus the similar-sounding Alexis) have developed a very different connotation thanks to Amazon. Kihm believes the change in name trends from 2005 to today reflects change in the culture.
“Overall we’re seeing many more unisex and gender-neutral names used for both sexes today, whereas in 2005, male usage of a name typically dropped if it was rising for females,” she said. “As society has shifted its views on gender and gender identity, parents have become more comfortable with children of any gender with names like Parker, Charlie or River.”
Without further ado, keep scrolling to find 20 names that were in the Top 50 in 2005 but have dropped considerably down the SSA’s list since then. Are any of these ripe for a revival? Only time will tell.
Girls
Alexis (No. 13 in 2005, now No. 449)
Alyssa (No. 16 to No. 333)
Lauren (No. 21 to No. 343)
Taylor (No. 24 to No. 261)
Kayla (No. 25 to No. 324)
Jessica (No. 27 to No. 553)
Jasmine (No. 29 to No. 190)
Sydney (No. 30 to No. 306)
Destiny (No. 32 to No. 439)
Morgan (No. 33 to No. 247)
Kaitlyn (No. 34 to No. 621)
Alexandra (No. 37 to No. 204)
Rachel (No. 38 to No. 255)
Kaylee (No. 40 to No. 180)
Megan (No. 41 to No. 694)
Jennifer (No. 42 to No. 517)
Angelina (No. 43 to No. 314)
Makayla (No. 44 to No. 457)
Trinity (No. 48 to No. 349)
Faith (No. 49 to No. 242)
Boys
Christopher (No. 10 to No. 55)
Nicholas (No. 15 to No. 109)
Tyler (No. 16 to No. 177)
Jonathan (No. 19 to No. 82)
Christian (No. 22 to No. 77)
Brandon (No. 27 to No. 219)
Zachary (No. 29 to No. 171)
Kevin (No. 33 to No. 186)
Justin (No. 36 to No. 185)
Robert (No. 37 to No. 89)
Austin (No. 38 to No. 101)
Aidan (No. 43 to No. 300)
Jordan (No. 46 to No. 98)
Gavin (No. 47 to No. 231)
Connor (No. 48 to No. 126)
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