If you are searching for Australian boy names through the 1990s, the practical task is to find the official South Australian registration data for boys born or registered from 1990 to 1999. The verified official source used here is the Attorney-General’s Department “Popular Baby Names” dataset on data.sa.gov.au. It lists male and female baby names in South Australia from 1944 to 2024, so the 1990s sit inside its coverage.
This guide covers the boy-name side of the decade and complements existing girl-name coverage for the same period. It does not invent a countdown of 1990s favourites. The supplied source layer confirms the dataset’s coverage, resources and licence, but it does not include the individual 1990s name values; to see the actual boy names for a year, you download the official file and filter it. The rest of this article shows where the 1990s records sit, how to open them, and what to verify.
What the official boy-name data covers
According to the dataset page published by the South Australian Attorney-General’s Department on data.sa.gov.au, the Popular Baby Names dataset is a list of male and female baby names in South Australia from 1944 to 2024. The page’s “Additional Info” fields set the temporal coverage as 1944-01-01 to 2024-12-31 and the geospatial coverage as South Australia, under the jurisdiction of the Government of South Australia.
Two scope points matter for a search on “Australian boy names 1990s”. First, the verified source is South Australian registration data, not a complete national ranking. If you need Australia-wide popularity, treat this as one official state dataset and verify other jurisdictions separately. Second, the data describes names registered in South Australia during each year. The dataset page lists an annual update frequency and says annual data for baby names is published January/February each year; the page also shows a dataset date updated of 2026-01-02 and a date published of 2013-05-17. Those dates are supplied by the source.
Where the 1990s records sit in the dataset
The dataset’s “Data and Resources” section splits records by year and, for recent years, by sex. For birth years in the 1990s, the relevant resource is the combined historical file, “Most popular Baby Names (1944-2013)” (CSV). The dataset describes that file as “Most Popular baby names in CSV format for each year.” Because 1990–1999 fall inside 1944–2013, that single CSV is the official place to retrieve 1990s boy names.
Later years are handled differently. The source page lists separate male and female files from 2014 onward, with titles that vary by year. Examples taken directly from the page include “Baby Names 2014 - Male” (CSV), “Baby Names 2015 - Males” (CSV), “Baby Names 2016 - Male” (CSV), “Baby Names 2017 - Male” (CSV), “Top 100 Baby Names 2018 - Male” (CSV), through to “Top 100 Baby Names 2024 - Male” (CSV), and “Top 100 Baby Names 2025 - Male” (XLSX). If you are checking a 1990s boy name, do not use those later male files; use the 1944–2013 CSV and filter to the boy/male entries for the exact year.
| Birth years | Resource listed on data.sa.gov.au | Format | What the source says it contains |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990–1999 | Most popular Baby Names (1944-2013) | CSV | “Most Popular baby names in CSV format for each year.” |
| 2014 | Baby Names 2014 - Male | CSV | Male baby names registered in 2014 |
| 2015 | Baby Names 2015 - Males | CSV | Boy names registered in 2015 |
| 2016 | Baby Names 2016 - Male | CSV | Male baby names registered in South Australia during 2016 |
| 2017 | Baby Names 2017 - Male | CSV | Male baby names registered in South Australia during 2017 |
| 2018–2024 | Top 100 Baby Names [year] - Male | CSV | Top 100 male baby names registered in South Australia during the year |
| 2025 | Top 100 Baby Names 2025 - Male | XLSX | Top 100 male baby names registered in South Australia during 2025 |
How to open the boy-name data for 1990 to 1999
Practical steps:
- Open the dataset landing page: https://data.sa.gov.au/data/dataset/popular-baby-names.
- In “Data and Resources”, download “Most popular Baby Names (1944-2013)”. The page lists a “Meta Data for Popular Baby Names” DOC if you need the dataset’s own definitions.
- Open the CSV in a spreadsheet program. Use its year and sex/name classifications to isolate male/boy entries for 1990–1999.
- Record the rank or popularity position exactly as shown in the file. If you create your own summary, label it as your own calculation.
- If comparing with a recent year, download the latest male file listed on the same page and compare like with like, remembering both files cover SA registrations.
The dataset page lists the licence as Creative Commons Attribution. If you publish or reuse the data, follow that attribution condition and check the page’s copyright and disclaimer links.
How to read the rankings and avoid common mix-ups
Keep three distinctions clear.
Facts from the source: The dataset is published by the Attorney-General’s Department, covers South Australia from 1944 to 2024, and lists male and female baby names. The 1990s are in the 1944–2013 CSV, which the page describes as most popular baby names for each year.
Practical interpretation: A “most popular” label means the file is organised by popularity within its own scope. It does not automatically mean the name was the most popular across Australia, because the verified dataset’s geospatial coverage is South Australia only. For later years, “Top 100” is the source’s file label, not an Australia-wide guarantee.
Questions to verify: Registration year may not always equal birth year, and the dataset’s exact treatment of late registrations is defined in its metadata, which is listed on the page but not included in the verified excerpt layer. Confirm definitions in “Meta Data for Popular Baby Names” before using the file for formal purposes.
Also note what this guide does not do. It does not list the actual boy names that appeared in 1990s South Australian data, because the verified evidence supplied confirms the dataset’s structure and coverage but not the individual name values. Any published ranking you see elsewhere should be checked against the official CSV.
How this guide complements the 1990s girl-name coverage
The girl-name guide for the same decade uses the same official dataset and the same historical CSV. The difference is the sex filter. For 1990–1999 girl names, you would use the female entries in “Most popular Baby Names (1944-2013)”; for boy names, use the male entries. From 2014 onward, the source page separates the data into male and female files, so the girl-name guide would use the “Female” files and this guide uses the “Male” files.
If you are building a 1990s shortlist, do both filters from the same downloaded CSV so the years and definitions match. That is more reliable than mixing a boy-name list from one source with a girl-name list from another.
Next steps: check a 1990s boy name
Use this checklist:
- Choose the exact year: 1990, 1991, through to 1999.
- Download the “Most popular Baby Names (1944-2013)” CSV from the Attorney-General’s Department dataset.
- Filter to male/boy entries for that year.
- Write down the position or count exactly as the file shows.
- If you need current context, download the latest male file, such as “Top 100 Baby Names 2025 - Male” (XLSX), and compare carefully.
- Check the “Meta Data for Popular Baby Names” DOC for registration-year and counting rules.
If you want to keep a shortlist tidy while you compare decades, Australian Name’s /match/ page offers a general matching tool. It is an organisational aid only and does not provide personalised advice.
General information only
This article is general information about a public dataset. It is not legal, tax, migration, credit or financial advice, and it does not assess name-registration eligibility or personal circumstances. Dataset coverage, definitions, file formats and publication dates can change; confirm them on the official Attorney-General’s Department dataset page before relying on them. Australian Name is an independent information website and is not a government body, registry, lender, broker or comparison panel. The linked source is used under its stated licence.