Popular baby names of 1978

In 1978, the most popular baby names in the United States were Jennifer for girls (56,314 babies) and Michael for boys (67,127). Social Security records show 3,173,696 babies with a name given to at least five children of the same sex that year, sharing 11,475 girls' names and 6,762 boys' names.

1978 at a glance

The top 10 girls' names went to 16.5% of girls recorded.
The top 10 boys' names went to 24.6% of boys recorded.
New in the girls' top 100: Lauren, Ashley, Katie, Cheryl, Lindsay, Kristi.
New in the boys' top 100: Shaun, Casey, Nathaniel.

Top 100 girls' and boys' names, 1978

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1977
1	Jennifer	56,314	–
2	Melissa	28,327	–
3	Jessica	26,102	↑1
4	Amy	23,213	↓1
5	Heather	22,270	–
6	Amanda	20,520	↑3
7	Angela	20,517	↓1
8	Sarah	19,976	↑3
9	Michelle	18,856	↓2
10	Nicole	17,279	↑5
11	Lisa	17,033	↑1
12	Kelly	16,976	↓2
13	Kimberly	16,879	↓5
14	Elizabeth	16,807	↓1
15	Christina	16,367	↑1
16	Stephanie	16,233	↓2
17	Rebecca	13,796	–
18	Crystal	12,594	↑7
19	Laura	11,240	↑1
20	Jamie	10,982	↓2
21	Erin	10,786	↑2
22	Shannon	10,598	↓3
23	Andrea	10,461	↑1
24	Mary	10,040	↓3
25	Rachel	9,802	↑1
26	Julie	9,794	↓4
27	April	9,590	↑2
28	Sara	8,869	↓1
29	Christine	8,272	↑1
30	Amber	8,174	↑3
31	Danielle	7,983	–
32	Tiffany	7,701	↑2
33	Emily	7,473	↑4
34	Erica	7,340	↑4
35	Carrie	7,318	↓7
36	Maria	7,021	–
37	Brandy	6,699	↑14
38	Katherine	6,625	↑6
39	Karen	6,371	↓7
40	Tara	6,330	↓5
41	Megan	5,895	↑13
42	Monica	5,867	↓3
43	Misty	5,834	↓3
44	Stacy	5,776	↓2
45	Tina	5,699	↑13
46	Jill	5,676	↓5
47	Tracy	5,631	↑3
48	Patricia	5,498	↓1
49	Susan	5,418	↓4
50	Cynthia	5,403	↓2
51	Kristy	5,332	↑17
52	Dawn	5,217	↓9
53	Stacey	4,998	↑3
54	Melanie	4,996	↓1
55	Holly	4,972	↓3
56	Wendy	4,918	↓7
57	Kathryn	4,808	↑13
58	Alicia	4,752	↑2
59	Christy	4,661	–
60	Lori	4,631	↓3
61	Brandi	4,500	↑10
62	Kristen	4,368	↑10
63	Leslie	4,342	↑2
64	Kristina	4,229	↑19
65	Anna	4,173	↑9
66	Natalie	4,165	↑3
67	Tammy	4,070	↓12
68	Courtney	4,031	↑8
69	Sandra	4,005	↓8
70	Jaime	4,003	↓24
71	Dana	4,002	↓9
72	Catherine	3,958	↑3
73	Veronica	3,933	–
74	Samantha	3,886	↑11
75	Allison	3,864	↓9
76	Vanessa	3,853	↑14
77	Tonya	3,826	↓13
78	Kristin	3,807	↑4
79	Kathleen	3,743	↑1
80	Lauren	3,669	new
81	Jacqueline	3,576	↑11
82	Tanya	3,576	↓15
83	Heidi	3,567	↓2
84	Melinda	3,563	↑12
85	Denise	3,519	↓7
86	Michele	3,484	↓9
87	Ashley	3,482	new
88	Teresa	3,472	↓9
89	Robin	3,440	↓5
90	Katie	3,426	new
91	Sabrina	3,350	↓28
92	Valerie	3,299	↓6
93	Gina	3,220	↓5
94	Cheryl	3,167	new
95	Lindsay	3,123	new
96	Mandy	3,110	↓2
97	Nancy	3,044	↓8
98	Kristi	2,992	new
99	Renee	2,969	↓12
100	Linda	2,932	↓1

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1977
1	Michael	67,127	–
2	Jason	51,600	–
3	Christopher	47,236	–
4	David	40,684	–
5	James	39,894	–
6	Matthew	34,282	↑3
7	John	34,014	–
8	Robert	33,374	↓2
9	Brian	29,432	↓1
10	Joseph	26,663	–
11	Daniel	26,441	–
12	Joshua	25,204	↑2
13	William	24,170	↓1
14	Ryan	21,322	↑2
15	Kevin	20,094	↓2
16	Eric	19,761	↑1
17	Timothy	19,597	↑1
18	Jeremy	19,509	↓3
19	Jeffrey	16,989	–
20	Anthony	16,808	↑1
21	Richard	16,734	↓1
22	Andrew	16,720	↑2
23	Thomas	16,481	↓1
24	Steven	16,390	↓1
25	Nicholas	16,342	↑26
26	Mark	14,851	↓1
27	Charles	14,844	↓1
28	Justin	14,183	↑2
29	Adam	13,918	↑4
30	Scott	13,539	↓3
31	Jonathan	12,514	↓3
32	Aaron	12,299	–
33	Paul	11,733	↓2
34	Benjamin	11,414	↓5
35	Chad	10,107	↓1
36	Nathan	9,890	–
37	Stephen	9,854	↑1
38	Gregory	9,340	↓3
39	Shawn	9,289	↓2
40	Brandon	9,241	↑1
41	Kenneth	9,021	↓2
42	Patrick	8,830	↓2
43	Bryan	7,291	↓1
44	Jose	7,148	↑1
45	Sean	7,059	↓2
46	Travis	6,953	↓2
47	Edward	6,473	–
48	Donald	6,423	↓2
49	Keith	6,172	↓1
50	Jacob	6,161	↑6
51	Jesse	6,107	↑3
52	Shaun	6,105	new
53	Bradley	6,096	↓4
54	Peter	5,872	↑1
55	Ronald	5,758	↓2
56	Todd	5,497	↓6
57	Samuel	5,394	↑3
58	George	5,297	↓1
59	Douglas	5,151	–
60	Gary	5,111	↓2
61	Corey	4,942	↓9
62	Juan	4,837	↑1
63	Kyle	4,517	↑16
64	Larry	4,514	↓2
65	Shane	4,480	↓4
66	Craig	4,472	↓2
67	Phillip	4,362	↑3
68	Dustin	4,177	↑13
69	Raymond	4,134	↓4
70	Marcus	3,995	↑2
71	Dennis	3,861	↓3
72	Jared	3,847	↑4
73	Cory	3,842	↓6
74	Joel	3,810	↓1
75	Derek	3,800	↑9
76	Derrick	3,786	↑4
77	Frank	3,775	↓6
78	Carlos	3,729	↓4
79	Antonio	3,677	↓2
80	Jeffery	3,543	↓2
81	Jeremiah	3,445	↓12
82	Jerry	3,427	↓7
83	Wesley	3,306	↓17
84	Philip	3,298	↑6
85	Erik	3,261	↑9
86	Randy	3,220	–
87	Brent	3,181	↓2
88	Troy	3,152	–
89	Zachary	3,127	↑6
90	Gabriel	3,126	↓3
91	Terry	3,089	↓8
92	Casey	3,003	new
93	Russell	2,984	↓4
94	Nathaniel	2,925	new
95	Jamie	2,864	↓13
96	Curtis	2,825	↑4
97	Tony	2,770	↓5
98	Alexander	2,738	↓2
99	Billy	2,695	↓8
100	Carl	2,606	↓1

Every name given in 1978

All 18,237 names Social Security recorded for 1978, with their rank and count. Type to filter.

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