The top Halloween costumes of the 21st century: From Harry Potter to Barbie and beyond

Ever wonder what the hottest Halloween costumes were over the last two decades? Well, we put together a list utilizing data from companies like Spirit Halloween, Party City and the National Retail Federation (NRF) as well as data from major trends, movies and cultural moments during at the time.

Let’s dive into the top costumes each year—from 2000 to 2023!

2000:

• Harry Potter characters
• X-Men characters
• Classic Witch

2001:

• Shrek characters
• Lord of the Rings characters (Frodo, Gandalf)
• Britney Spears (from her iconic MTV performances)

2002:

• Spider-Man
• Star Wars (Darth Vader, Stormtroopers)
• Scream’s Ghostface

2003:

• Pirates of the Caribbean (Jack Sparrow)
• The Matrix (Neo, Trinity)
• Classic Vampire

2004:

• The Incredibles characters
• Kill Bill (The Bride)
• Spider-Man

2005:

• Darth Vader (Star Wars)
• Batman
• The Fantastic Four characters

2006:

• Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean)
• Superman
• Classic Witch

2007:

• Transformers characters
• Harry Potter characters
• Pirates of the Caribbean characters

2008:

• The Joker (The Dark Knight)
• Iron Man
• Indiana Jones

2009:

• Twilight vampires (Edward, Bella)
• Avatar Na’vi
• Michael Jackson (after his passing)

2010:

• Lady Gaga
• Toy Story characters (Woody, Buzz Lightyear)
• Classic Zombie

2011:

• Black Swan
• The Walking Dead zombies
• Captain America

2012:

• Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games)
• The Avengers characters (Iron Man, Thor)
• Classic Witch

2013:

• Breaking Bad characters (Walter White, Jesse Pinkman)
• Minions (Despicable Me)
• Frozen characters (Elsa, Anna)

2014:

• Elsa and Anna (Frozen)
• Guardians of the Galaxy characters (Star-Lord, Groot)
• Ninja Turtles

2015:

• Harley Quinn (promo for Suicide Squad)
• Star Wars characters (The Force Awakens hype)
• Minions

2016:

• Harley Quinn (Suicide Squad)
• Pokémon (Pokémon GO craze)
• Star Wars (Kylo Ren, Rey)

2017:

• Pennywise (It)
• Wonder Woman
• Stranger Things characters (Eleven, Dustin)

2018:

• Fortnite characters
• Black Panther (T’Challa, Killmonger)
• The Incredibles (sequel released in 2018)

2019:

• The Joker (Joker movie with Joaquin Phoenix)
• Avengers characters (Endgame hype)
• Harley Quinn (still popular)

2020:

• Carole Baskin and Joe Exotic (Tiger King)
• Star Wars (Baby Yoda/Grogu)
• Classic Witch (with face masks due to the pandemic)

2021:

• Squid Game characters (guards, players)
• Wanda and Vision (WandaVision)
• Spider-Man

2022:

• Stranger Things characters (Eddie Munson, Eleven)
• Top Gun pilots (from Top Gun: Maverick)
• Marvel characters (Doctor Strange, Scarlet Witch)

2023:

• Barbie and Ken (from the Barbie movie)
• Wednesday Addams (Netflix series)
• Spider-Man (due to the animated Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse)