According to New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the most popular baby names in the city in 2006 were Ashley and Michael.
Here are New York City’s top 50+ girl names and top 50 boy names of 2006:
Girl names
- Ashley, 518 baby girls
- Emily, 504
- Isabella, 457
- Sarah, 409
- Kayla, 406
- Sophia, 402
- Mia, 384
- Madison, 333
- Brianna, 326 (tie)
- Samantha, 326 (tie)
- Rachel, 322
- Olivia, 312
- Ava, 296
- Emma, 270
- Julia, 267
- Maya, 265
- Angelina, 264
- Victoria, 260
- Leah, 248
- Michelle, 244 (tie)
- Nicole, 244 (tie)
- Gabriella, 240
- Esther, 239
- Alexandra, 232 (3-way tie)
- Chloe, 232 (3-way tie)
- Elizabeth, 232 (3-way tie)
- Jessica, 229
- Sara, 228
- Abigail, 222
- Alyssa, 210
- Jennifer, 197
- Chaya, 193
- Natalie, 192 (tie)
- Sofia, 192 (tie)
- Destiny, 187
- Grace, 186
- Melanie, 181
- Amanda, 178 (3-way tie)
- Jasmine, 178 (3-way tie)
- Katherine, 178 (3-way tie)
- Anna, 177
- Arianna, 174
- Stephanie, 172
- Jada, 168
- Hannah, 165
- Alexa, 162
- Maria, 160
- Kimberly, 158
- Ariana, 156
- Gianna, 154 (tie)
- Zoe, 154 (tie)
Boy names
- Michael, 805 baby boys
- Daniel, 766
- Matthew, 748
- Joshua, 736
- Justin, 718
- David, 700
- Christopher, 675
- Joseph, 643
- Anthony, 639
- Jayden, 591
- Kevin, 540
- Brandon, 512
- Alexander, 509
- Ryan, 503
- Nicholas, 489
- Jonathan, 469
- Ethan, 450
- Andrew, 447
- Christian, 438
- John, 434
- Jacob, 423
- Jason, 419
- William, 407
- Angel, 405
- James, 402
- Gabriel, 352
- Samuel, 344
- Elijah, 341
- Benjamin, 306
- Dylan, 304
- Jack, 294
- Tyler, 290
- Aaron, 286
- Jordan, 284
- Isaiah, 283
- Sebastian, 279
- Jaden, 266
- Jose, 263
- Eric, 261
- Brian, 245
- Aidan, 237
- Adam, 234
- Sean, 233
- Alex, 231
- Noah, 230
- Jeremiah, 229 (tie)
- Xavier, 229 (tie)
- Bryan, 227 (tie)
- Steven, 227 (tie)
- Jeremy, 226
The top baby names within specific ethnic/racial groups were…
| Top girl name | Top boy name | |
| Hispanic | Ashley | Angel |
| Asian | Emily | Ryan |
| Non-Hispanic White | Sarah | Michael |
| Non-Hispanic Black | Kayla | Joshua |
And among the names given to just 10 babies each in NYC last year were the girl names Eleni, Louise, Nailah, Ruchy, and Winni, and the boy names Aldo, Gideon, Herman, Shiloh, and Yehudah.
Source: Popular Baby Names – NYC.gov (pdf)
Image: Adapted from Flag of New York (public domain)
[Latest update: Oct. 2025]
