Are ’90s Baby Names Cool Again? Babylist Babes Data Says Yes

As Babylist’s resident baby name expert, I’m always looking for patterns in the names parents choose. While looking at the Babylist Babes Name Trends of 2026 so far, I was pleasantly surprised to keep spotting distinctly millennial-coded names. Names that belonged to people in my classes growing up or friends my age now. 

Many of the names that have been popular over the last decade have a distinctly modern vibe, while names millennials grew up with, like Jennifer, Shannon, Natalie and Evan, have been out of favor for quite some time. Yet lately, I’m seeing names like my own, Briana, along with Catherine, Ashley, Ryan, Cameron and Aaron. These aren’t the antique-cool names that have dominated baby name lists for years. Like the return of jellies, analog cameras and deliberately offline hobbies, the names many of today’s parents grew up hearing every day may be circling back.

And that may be exactly why they’re beginning to feel interesting again. Perhaps enough time has passed that new parents are revisiting the names of their own generation as an alternative to the vintage, great-grandparent names that tend to dominate the charts. And we know there are plenty of Millennials among today’s Babylist parents: 69 percent of Babylist registrants who took our recent Most Loved Baby Products survey identified as Millennials. Before we get into the names appearing in our data, though, let’s define what makes a baby name “Millennial.”

What are Millennial baby names?

Millennials are generally considered the generation born between 1981 and 1996, and their names have a distinct style, too. Think Samantha, Ashley, Ryan and Cameron—names that were fixtures of the 1980s and 1990s but have since fallen from their peak popularity. Many have much older histories, but their popularity during those decades made them closely associated with the Millennial generation.

If you’re around my age (almost 34), chances are you had several Samanthas, Ashleys, Ryans or Camerons in your classes each year. You might even find your own name on this list.

The names we’re noticing aren’t necessarily surging back to the top of the charts—at least not yet. They may be entering the earliest stage of a comeback: the point when parents begin hearing a once-ubiquitous name as nostalgic instead of dated.

The Millennial Baby Names We’re Seeing the Most

These names aren’t dominating Babylist Babes, but they’re the Millennial-coded names we spotted most often over the past year. I’m also seeing some crossover with boy names being used for girls, including Cameron and Ryan.

• Cameron

• Ryan

• Natalie

• Aaron

• Evan

• Bailey

• Mackenzie

• Spencer

• Casey

• Samantha

• Shelby

Millennial Baby Name Micro-Trends

⭐️ The Millennial baby name comeback starts in the middle

One of the first places I look for an emerging baby name comeback is the middle name spot. Choosing a name as a middle name can feel like a lower-stakes way to revisit something familiar, use an honor name or experiment with a style that hasn’t quite made its way back into first-name territory.

That pattern appears in the Babylist Babes data. For example, Cameron’s first-name usage is essentially level over the last two years, but its use as a middle name is up 28%. Similarly, Aaron is down slightly as a first name but up 30% as a middle name, while Bailey is down 3% as a first name and up 44% as a middle name. 

Other distinctly Millennial-coded middle names are also showing movement. Compared with their combined 2024 and 2025 counts, a few others creeping up include:

• Katherine +46%

• Nicole +16%

• Michele +76%

• Rachel +92%

None of this means these names are about to leap back to the top of the charts. But it does put them on my watch list. Today’s unexpected middle name may be tomorrow’s newly vintage first name.

💿 80s and ’90s girl names entering their comeback era

Girl names are where I’m seeing some of the most interesting signs of a Millennial-name revival. Samantha, Ashley, Chelsea and Kelly were once so common that they may not immediately register as comeback candidates. But after years of parents gravitating toward girl names like Eleanor, Evelyn and Hazel, several are beginning to feel newly relevant. Here are a few more names I noticed that fall into this micro-trend:

• Jennifer

• Theresa

• Shelby

• Savannah

• Tiffany

• Nicolette

• Raven

• Alexandra

• Katherine

• Angela

🪴 Millennial gender neutral names 

Gender-neutral names were a major part of Millennial classrooms, and several are beginning to feel newly relevant. Ryan, Cameron, Taylor, Casey, Spencer and Bailey all have the easygoing, surname-style appeal that today’s parents seem to gravitate toward. These offer a way to tap into that vibe without using a more ubiquitous gender-neutral pick like Charlie, Rowan, Riley or Avery. 

We’re also seeing these names used in combinations that make them feel less tied to one decade—or one gender. Recent Babylist Babes names include:

• Ryan Marie

• Cameron Lucia

• Casey Warner

• Spencer Aaron

Some of these names never disappeared completely. What’s changing is the context around them. After years of more elaborate vintage names and newly invented choices, a name like Ryan or Taylor can feel fresh again. Baby name trends are cyclical, after all. What once sounded dated can eventually start to feel fresh again.