Generation dossier
Gen Z Baby Names
The names that rose through the late 1990s and 2000s as naming culture became faster, more fragmented, and more image-conscious.
Gen Z naming patterns show sharper fashion cycles, more spelling variation, and a faster path from novelty to overexposure.
Smaller peaks, more names
Gen Z's leading names never reached millennial volumes. Madison peaked at 22,166 births in 2001 and Ethan at 22,210 in 2004, well under half of Jessica's 55,992 in 1987. Parents were spreading their choices across many more names, so even a top name was shared by fewer classmates. That fragmentation is the defining statistical trait of the generation, and it continued into the 2010s.
Sound families replaced single names
Instead of one dominant name, Gen Z produced clusters of names that share a sound. Aiden and Jayden both peaked in 2009, at 16,030 and 17,316 births, sharing the same "-den" ending. Each name's rank understates how popular the sound was, because the births were split across rhymes and spellings. Check the dossiers above to see how closely their curves track each other.
How Gen Z names are aging so far
Gen Z names are fading more slowly than millennial names did, but they have had less time. In 2025, Madison had 4,945 births (22% of its peak), Ethan 7,852 (35%), Ava 7,732 (43%) and Isabella 10,666 (47%). All four are now classified as declining. Whether they follow Jessica and Ashley toward endangered status is the open question the next few years of SSA data will answer. The 2000s decade hub tracks the full roster.