Popular baby names in Florida, 1978

The most popular baby names in Florida in 1978 were Jennifer for girls (1,859 babies) and Michael for boys (2,243). Social Security records list 95,031 babies born in Florida in 1978 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in Florida in 1978

Names given at least 15 times in Florida that year and at least twice as common as in the US as a whole.

Girls

Lourdes: 25 babies, 4.5× the national rate
Shanika: 30 babies, 4.1× the national rate
Mercedes: 23 babies, 3.6× the national rate
Shayla: 30 babies, 3.3× the national rate
Lakesha: 55 babies, 2.8× the national rate
Shameka: 28 babies, 2.8× the national rate
Kizzy: 35 babies, 2.7× the national rate
Lawanda: 34 babies, 2.7× the national rate
Marilyn: 45 babies, 2.5× the national rate
Sommer: 25 babies, 2.5× the national rate

Boys

Tavares: 34 babies, 6.8× the national rate
Antwan: 33 babies, 3.4× the national rate
Willie: 199 babies, 3× the national rate
Johnnie: 42 babies, 2.9× the national rate
Otis: 27 babies, 2.9× the national rate
Carlton: 36 babies, 2.7× the national rate
Cornelius: 34 babies, 2.6× the national rate
Xavier: 26 babies, 2.5× the national rate
Lorenzo: 40 babies, 2.4× the national rate
Charlie: 47 babies, 2.3× the national rate

Top 50 girls' and boys' names in Florida, 1978

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1977	US rank
1	Jennifer	1,859	–	1
2	Melissa	1,000	–	2
3	Jessica	865	↑2	3
4	Heather	846	↓1	5
5	Kimberly	709	↑3	13
6	Michelle	705	↓2	9
7	Christina	701	↑2	15
8	Angela	665	↓1	7
9	Amanda	619	↑1	6
10	Amy	606	↓4	4
11	Kelly	562	↑1	12
12	Stephanie	522	↑1	16
13	Lisa	487	↓2	11
14	Nicole	483	↑2	10
15	Elizabeth	451	↓1	14
16	Crystal	405	↑11	18
17	Sarah	399	↑1	8
18	Shannon	390	↓3	22
19	Rebecca	374	↓2	17
20	Tiffany	371	↑2	32
21	Mary	362	↓2	24
22	April	361	↑1	27
23	Laura	331	↓2	19
24	Andrea	297	–	23
25	Jamie	285	↓5	20
26	Erin	277	↑2	21
27	Rachel	273	↑3	25
28	Erica	270	↑8	34
29	Julie	253	↓4	26
30	Brandy	239	new	37
31	Danielle	235	↑3	31
32	Christine	226	↓6	29
33	Carrie	214	↓1	35
34	Tara	213	↓1	40
35	Monica	208	↑2	42
36	Patricia	205	↓7	48
37	Karen	202	↓6	39
38	Cynthia	199	↑4	50
39	Tina	196	↑2	45
40	Amber	189	↑7	30
41	Sara	189	↑4	28
42	Maria	187	↓4	36
43	Vanessa	185	new	76
44	Tracy	184	↑2	47
45	Ashley	177	new	87
46	Dawn	173	↓11	52
47	Holly	172	new	55
48	Katherine	171	↑1	38
49	Alicia	166	new	58
50	Emily	162	new	33

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1977	US rank
1	Michael	2,243	–	1
2	Christopher	1,816	↑1	3
3	Jason	1,641	↓1	2
4	James	1,528	–	5
5	David	1,353	–	4
6	Robert	1,299	–	8
7	John	1,223	–	7
8	William	989	–	13
9	Matthew	899	↑3	6
10	Daniel	875	–	11
11	Joseph	869	–	10
12	Brian	865	↓3	9
13	Richard	700	–	21
14	Charles	694	↑1	27
15	Joshua	663	↑2	12
16	Kevin	619	↓2	15
17	Eric	593	↓1	16
18	Anthony	557	↑1	20
19	Timothy	556	↓1	17
20	Thomas	538	–	23
21	Ryan	536	↑1	14
22	Steven	468	↓1	24
23	Jeremy	421	–	18
24	Jeffrey	418	↑1	19
25	Andrew	416	↑1	22
26	Jonathan	409	↑2	31
27	Justin	390	↑9	28
28	Mark	376	↓4	26
29	Nicholas	367	new	25
30	Kenneth	361	↓3	41
31	Adam	357	↑4	29
32	Paul	348	↓2	33
33	Stephen	347	↓2	37
34	Shawn	340	↓2	39
35	Scott	339	↓6	30
36	Aaron	303	↑6	32
37	Benjamin	289	–	34
38	Gregory	278	↓4	38
39	Bryan	264	–	43
40	Sean	263	↓7	45
41	Patrick	254	↓1	42
42	Donald	244	↓4	48
43	Chad	240	↑5	35
44	Edward	237	↑3	47
45	Antonio	223	↑5	79
46	Keith	222	↑3	49
47	Ronald	219	↓6	55
48	George	202	↓5	58
49	Willie	199	↓3	>100
50	Samuel	197	new	57

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