This article will cover body tags as well as shoulder tags since the two go together. Click on these links if you want to learn more about shoulder tags or how to read them to determine the date of manufacture.
Take a look at my other articles for more traits to look for to determine a doll’s age!
1986-1999
First off, any doll without a body tag (or remnants of a cut tag) is a Pleasant Company doll:
However, there was a brief time around 1995-1996 where dolls had a Pleasant Company body tag. This tag has a copyright year of 1986, however that does NOT mean the doll is from 1986!
Late 1999-early 2000
I don’t have a picture of this tag yet. It is longer than the following “2008” tag, but has all the same text on it, except it has a different four digit number than “2008”.
2000-2009
When Mattel took over in 2000, dolls were given a short body tag. The tag says 2008, but this is NOT what year the doll was made. The “2008” is thought to be a copyright year or part number.
Most dolls with this 2008 body tag have a tag sewn into the inside of their right shoulder with the letters A-L and numbers 0-9 printed on it. Usually, one letter and one number will be punched out. The letter corresponds to the month and the number to the year (2000-2009) that the doll was manufactured.
| Letter | Month | Number | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | January | 0 | 2000 |
| B | February | 1 | 2001 |
| C | March | 2 | 2002 |
| D | April | 3 | 2003 |
| E | May | 4 | 2004 |
| F | June | 5 | 2005 |
| G | July | 6 | 2006 |
| H | August | 7 | 2007 |
| I | September | 8 | 2008 |
| J | October | 9 | 2009 |
| K | November | ||
| L | December |
*Some dolls with the “2008” body tag have a shoulder tag without any letters or numbers punched out. It is thought that these dolls are from around 1999-2000 when the tag was first implemented. Look at other traits of the doll to help determine the age.*
2001 “American Gril” Tag
In 2001, some dolls ended up with a misprinted body tag where “Girl” was misspelled as “Gril”. This tag is most commonly associated with the first Girl of the Year Lindsey (available 2001-2002), but has also been found on 2001 Kit and Girl of Today #21 dolls.
2002-2004 Variation
Some dolls during this time have an AG body tag appears printed in pink instead of red, the number “3371” appears instead of “2008”, and the shoulder tag is also printed in pink ink.
Below are pictures from my August 2002 Josefina doll:
There is a variation with this pink “3371” body tag as well. This tag has been found to have a second tag behind it. This second tag has an alphanumeric code and this is thought to correspond to the month and year of manufacture as these dolls do not have a shoulder tag. Reference the above shoulder tag chart to determine the month as the last two numbers correspond to the year (03 = 2003).
Thanks to my sister for providing these pictures of the tags on her Josefina doll!
2008
Some dolls manufactured in 2008 have the “2008” body tag, however, they do not have the typical shoulder tag these dolls ought to have. It is not known what these tags mean, but these dolls were likely made in 2008. These tags have been found in Kit and Ruthie dolls and Ruthie was released in 2008.
2008-2009
Starting around 2008-2009, there was a second tag added behind the “2008” body tag. Pictured is the tag on my Julie doll that was purchased from American Girl Place Chicago in the summer of 2009. *Dolls with double tags will NOT have a shoulder tag!*
2009-early 2011
Around 2010, the tag design was changed. There are still two tags, however both are longer than the “2008” tag. These tags were used into 2011 since some Kanani dolls (GOTY 2011) have short tags while others have the next tag used.
2011 to Present
The current tags started to be used in 2011 and are much longer than previous tags. For dolls with these tags, the copyright year is the earliest they could have been manufactured. Current dolls (2023) still have tags with a copyright year of 2017 on them.
Create Your Own (2017-Present)
Create Your Own (CYO) dolls became available in 2017 and these dolls have two long tags.
Return to How Old is My American Girl Doll page.
*I am not an expert, but I just want to share my knowledge about dating American Girl dolls. Please leave a comment if you think there are any errors and I will look into it. I hope these articles help you!
One reply on “Body Tags and Shoulder Tags”
This is an incredible resource, thank you. My Ivy doll has the short 2008 tag, but an unknown number printed on her shoulder tag instead of the expected punched-out number and letter tag. I couldn’t find any information regarding this variation.