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Names

Most popular baby names of 1978

In 1978, the most popular names in the US were Jennifer for girls and Michael for boys. Here are the top 100, with how many babies got each name.

← 19771979 →

Girls

  1. 1Jennifer56,314
  2. 2Melissa28,327
  3. 3Jessica26,102
  4. 4Amy23,213
  5. 5Heather22,270
  6. 6Amanda20,520
  7. 7Angela20,517
  8. 8Sarah19,976
  9. 9Michelle18,856
  10. 10Nicole17,279
  11. 11Lisa17,033
  12. 12Kelly16,976
  13. 13Kimberly16,879
  14. 14Elizabeth16,807
  15. 15Christina16,367
  16. 16Stephanie16,233
  17. 17Rebecca13,796
  18. 18Crystal12,594
  19. 19Laura11,240
  20. 20Jamie10,982
  21. 21Erin10,786
  22. 22Shannon10,598
  23. 23Andrea10,461
  24. 24Mary10,040
  25. 25Rachel9,802
  26. 26Julie9,794
  27. 27April9,590
  28. 28Sara8,869
  29. 29Christine8,272
  30. 30Amber8,174
  31. 31Danielle7,983
  32. 32Tiffany7,701
  33. 33Emily7,473
  34. 34Erica7,340
  35. 35Carrie7,318
  36. 36Maria7,021
  37. 37Brandy6,699
  38. 38Katherine6,625
  39. 39Karen6,371
  40. 40Tara6,330
  41. 41Megan5,895
  42. 42Monica5,867
  43. 43Misty5,834
  44. 44Stacy5,776
  45. 45Tina5,699
  46. 46Jill5,676
  47. 47Tracy5,631
  48. 48Patricia5,498
  49. 49Susan5,418
  50. 50Cynthia5,403
  51. 51Kristy5,332
  52. 52Dawn5,217
  53. 53Stacey4,998
  54. 54Melanie4,996
  55. 55Holly4,972
  56. 56Wendy4,918
  57. 57Kathryn4,808
  58. 58Alicia4,752
  59. 59Christy4,661
  60. 60Lori4,631
  61. 61Brandi4,500
  62. 62Kristen4,368
  63. 63Leslie4,342
  64. 64Kristina4,229
  65. 65Anna4,173
  66. 66Natalie4,165
  67. 67Tammy4,070
  68. 68Courtney4,031
  69. 69Sandra4,005
  70. 70Jaime4,003
  71. 71Dana4,002
  72. 72Catherine3,958
  73. 73Veronica3,933
  74. 74Samantha3,886
  75. 75Allison3,864
  76. 76Vanessa3,853
  77. 77Tonya3,826
  78. 78Kristin3,807
  79. 79Kathleen3,743
  80. 80Lauren3,669
  81. 81Jacqueline3,576
  82. 82Tanya3,576
  83. 83Heidi3,567
  84. 84Melinda3,563
  85. 85Denise3,519
  86. 86Michele3,484
  87. 87Ashley3,482
  88. 88Teresa3,472
  89. 89Robin3,440
  90. 90Katie3,426
  91. 91Sabrina3,350
  92. 92Valerie3,299
  93. 93Gina3,220
  94. 94Cheryl3,167
  95. 95Lindsay3,123
  96. 96Mandy3,110
  97. 97Nancy3,044
  98. 98Kristi2,992
  99. 99Renee2,969
  100. 100Linda2,932

Boys

  1. 1Michael67,127
  2. 2Jason51,600
  3. 3Christopher47,236
  4. 4David40,684
  5. 5James39,894
  6. 6Matthew34,282
  7. 7John34,014
  8. 8Robert33,374
  9. 9Brian29,432
  10. 10Joseph26,663
  11. 11Daniel26,441
  12. 12Joshua25,204
  13. 13William24,170
  14. 14Ryan21,322
  15. 15Kevin20,094
  16. 16Eric19,761
  17. 17Timothy19,597
  18. 18Jeremy19,509
  19. 19Jeffrey16,989
  20. 20Anthony16,808
  21. 21Richard16,734
  22. 22Andrew16,720
  23. 23Thomas16,481
  24. 24Steven16,390
  25. 25Nicholas16,342
  26. 26Mark14,851
  27. 27Charles14,844
  28. 28Justin14,183
  29. 29Adam13,918
  30. 30Scott13,539
  31. 31Jonathan12,514
  32. 32Aaron12,299
  33. 33Paul11,733
  34. 34Benjamin11,414
  35. 35Chad10,107
  36. 36Nathan9,890
  37. 37Stephen9,854
  38. 38Gregory9,340
  39. 39Shawn9,289
  40. 40Brandon9,241
  41. 41Kenneth9,021
  42. 42Patrick8,830
  43. 43Bryan7,291
  44. 44Jose7,148
  45. 45Sean7,059
  46. 46Travis6,953
  47. 47Edward6,473
  48. 48Donald6,423
  49. 49Keith6,172
  50. 50Jacob6,161
  51. 51Jesse6,107
  52. 52Shaun6,105
  53. 53Bradley6,096
  54. 54Peter5,872
  55. 55Ronald5,758
  56. 56Todd5,497
  57. 57Samuel5,394
  58. 58George5,297
  59. 59Douglas5,151
  60. 60Gary5,111
  61. 61Corey4,942
  62. 62Juan4,837
  63. 63Kyle4,517
  64. 64Larry4,514
  65. 65Shane4,480
  66. 66Craig4,472
  67. 67Phillip4,362
  68. 68Dustin4,177
  69. 69Raymond4,134
  70. 70Marcus3,995
  71. 71Dennis3,861
  72. 72Jared3,847
  73. 73Cory3,842
  74. 74Joel3,810
  75. 75Derek3,800
  76. 76Derrick3,786
  77. 77Frank3,775
  78. 78Carlos3,729
  79. 79Antonio3,677
  80. 80Jeffery3,543
  81. 81Jeremiah3,445
  82. 82Jerry3,427
  83. 83Wesley3,306
  84. 84Philip3,298
  85. 85Erik3,261
  86. 86Randy3,220
  87. 87Brent3,181
  88. 88Troy3,152
  89. 89Zachary3,127
  90. 90Gabriel3,126
  91. 91Terry3,089
  92. 92Casey3,003
  93. 93Russell2,984
  94. 94Nathaniel2,925
  95. 95Jamie2,864
  96. 96Curtis2,825
  97. 97Tony2,770
  98. 98Alexander2,738
  99. 99Billy2,695
  100. 100Carl2,606

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Where the counts come from: the US from Social Security card records from 1880 (names given to at least 5 babies in a year; years before about 1937 count fewer people, because the cards started then), and before 1880 from Douglas Galbi's tables of a census sample. England and Wales from the Office for National Statistics from 1996, and before that from Stephen Bush's study of local birth records, a sample of about 120,000 births a year (CC BY 4.0). Scotland from National Records of Scotland. Northern Ireland from NISRA. France from INSEE, first names and last names. Italy from ISTAT (CC BY 4.0), the top 50 names a year. Berlin from the city's open data (CC BY 3.0 DE), counting only the first of a child's names. UK figures are Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence. US last names from the 2020 census, and before 1850 from the 1790 census. Irish last names from Robert Matheson's report on the births of 1890. Italian last names from the City of Florence (CC BY 4.0). Norwegian last names from Statistics Norway (CC BY 4.0).

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