Birth year

Born in 1999? Here's your year in charts

In 1999, the top baby names were Emily and Jacob, a dozen eggs cost $0.96, a gallon of gas cost $1.14, unemployment averaged 4.2%, a newborn could expect to live 76.7 years, and the world had 6.08 billion people.

Top baby names of 1999

Girls

  1. 1. Emily 26,542 babies, 1.5% of girls
  2. 2. Hannah 21,679 babies, 1.2% of girls
  3. 3. Alexis 19,237 babies, 1.1% of girls
  4. 4. Sarah 19,119 babies, 1.1% of girls
  5. 5. Samantha 19,044 babies, 1.1% of girls

Boys

  1. 1. Jacob 35,371 babies, 1.8% of boys
  2. 2. Michael 33,915 babies, 1.8% of boys
  3. 3. Matthew 30,418 babies, 1.6% of boys
  4. 4. Joshua 27,265 babies, 1.4% of boys
  5. 5. Nicholas 25,639 babies, 1.3% of boys

From Social Security card applications for babies born in the U.S.; names given to fewer than 5 babies are left out. Pick a name to see how many babies got it every year since 1880.

1999 then vs. now

  • A dozen eggs

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    $0.96 in 1999, compared with $2.27 in September 2026

    Average price of grade A large eggs in U.S. cities.

  • A gallon of regular gas

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    $1.14 in 1999, compared with $4.36 in September 2026

    Average U.S. retail price.

  • Unemployment rate

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    4.2% in 1999, compared with 4.2% in September 2026

    Share of the labor force out of work, the year's average.

  • Life expectancy at birth

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    76.7 years in 1999, compared with 78.7 years in 2018

    How long a baby born that year could expect to live, at that year's death rates.

  • People in the world

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    6.08 billion in 1999, compared with 8.22 billion in 2025

    World population at mid-year.

Prices are in dollars of the day, not adjusted for inflation. A figure is left out when its chart doesn't cover 1999.

$100 in 1999 buys about as much as $202.28 in September 2026. Try the inflation calculator

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Sources and dates