Birth year

Born in 2003? Here's your year in charts

In 2003, the top baby names were Emily and Jacob, a dozen eggs cost $1.24, a gallon of gas cost $1.56, unemployment averaged 6.0%, a newborn could expect to live 77.6 years, and the world had 6.41 billion people.

Top baby names of 2003

Girls

  1. 1. Emily 25,693 babies, 1.4% of girls
  2. 2. Emma 22,719 babies, 1.2% of girls
  3. 3. Madison 20,201 babies, 1.1% of girls
  4. 4. Hannah 17,638 babies, 1.0% of girls
  5. 5. Olivia 16,154 babies, 0.9% of girls

Boys

  1. 1. Jacob 29,658 babies, 1.5% of boys
  2. 2. Michael 27,129 babies, 1.4% of boys
  3. 3. Joshua 25,106 babies, 1.3% of boys
  4. 4. Matthew 24,011 babies, 1.2% of boys
  5. 5. Andrew 22,162 babies, 1.1% 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.

2003 then vs. now

  • A dozen eggs

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    $1.24 in 2003, 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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    $1.56 in 2003, compared with $4.36 in September 2026

    Average U.S. retail price.

  • Unemployment rate

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    6.0% in 2003, 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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    77.6 years in 2003, 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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    6.41 billion in 2003, 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 2003.

$100 in 2003 buys about as much as $183.16 in September 2026. Try the inflation calculator

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Sources and dates