Popular baby names in Iowa, 1978

The most popular baby names in Iowa in 1978 were Jennifer for girls (937 babies) and Jason for boys (815). Jason ranked #2 nationally for boys. Social Security records list 39,672 babies born in Iowa in 1978 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in Iowa in 1978

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

Girls

Mindy: 72 babies, 3.7× the national rate
Molly: 85 babies, 3.6× the national rate
Darcy: 17 babies, 3.6× the national rate
Abby: 26 babies, 3.5× the national rate
Alissa: 22 babies, 3.4× the national rate
Katy: 18 babies, 3.4× the national rate
Jill: 224 babies, 3.3× the national rate
Abigail: 40 babies, 3.3× the national rate
Tami: 24 babies, 3.2× the national rate
Kari: 73 babies, 3.1× the national rate

Boys

Curt: 15 babies, 5.1× the national rate
Trent: 31 babies, 4.4× the national rate
Nickolas: 27 babies, 3.7× the national rate
Beau: 22 babies, 3.6× the national rate
Nick: 17 babies, 3.3× the national rate
Darin: 22 babies, 3.2× the national rate
Bryce: 21 babies, 3.1× the national rate
Chad: 388 babies, 3× the national rate
Cory: 146 babies, 3× the national rate
Blake: 26 babies, 3× the national rate

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

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1977	US rank
1	Jennifer	937	–	1
2	Amy	517	–	4
3	Sarah	490	–	8
4	Jessica	471	↑2	3
5	Melissa	444	↑2	2
6	Angela	441	↓2	7
7	Heather	423	↓2	5
8	Amanda	351	↑3	6
9	Nicole	305	↑3	10
10	Michelle	297	↓2	9
11	Sara	289	↓2	28
12	Kelly	283	↓2	12
13	Stephanie	277	↑3	16
14	Lisa	250	–	11
15	Elizabeth	224	↑5	14
16	Jill	224	↑1	46
17	Rebecca	217	↑4	17
18	Andrea	215	↑4	23
19	Erin	200	↓1	21
20	Amber	195	↑8	30
21	Emily	193	↑5	33
22	Laura	189	↑3	19
23	Jamie	188	↓10	20
24	Kimberly	185	↓5	13
25	Rachel	169	↑2	25
26	Julie	168	↓2	26
27	Carrie	165	↓12	35
28	Christina	160	↑2	15
29	Megan	157	–	41
30	Shannon	136	↓7	22
31	Mary	133	↑4	24
32	Tara	128	↑1	40
33	Katie	122	↑15	90
34	Crystal	116	↑4	18
35	Stacy	114	↓1	44
36	Holly	113	↓4	55
37	April	110	new	27
38	Kathryn	102	new	57
39	Dawn	100	↓8	52
40	Heidi	99	↓1	83
41	Danielle	95	↑1	31
42	Wendy	95	↑4	56
43	Katherine	93	new	38
44	Tracy	87	↓4	47
45	Molly	85	new	>100
46	Tina	85	new	45
47	Christine	82	new	29
48	Kristin	82	new	78
49	Misty	81	↑1	43
50	Susan	79	↓9	49

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1977	US rank
1	Jason	815	–	2
2	Matthew	777	↑1	6
3	Michael	747	↓1	1
4	Ryan	636	–	14
5	Joshua	620	–	12
6	Christopher	572	↑2	3
7	Brian	514	–	9
8	David	446	↑1	4
9	Nicholas	446	↑28	25
10	James	432	↑1	5
11	Jeremy	407	↓5	18
12	Chad	388	↓2	35
13	John	377	–	7
14	Eric	376	–	16
15	Andrew	373	↑1	22
16	Daniel	368	↓4	11
17	Joseph	350	↓2	10
18	Adam	342	↑9	29
19	Nathan	340	↑2	36
20	Justin	330	↑4	28
21	Timothy	325	↓4	17
22	Robert	318	↓4	8
23	Aaron	293	–	32
24	Scott	290	↓2	30
25	Jeffrey	283	↓6	19
26	Benjamin	274	↓6	34
27	Travis	236	↓2	46
28	Kevin	228	↓2	15
29	Mark	228	↓1	26
30	Steven	204	–	24
31	Thomas	204	↑1	23
32	William	201	↓3	13
33	Anthony	179	–	20
34	Bradley	166	↓3	53
35	Shawn	162	↑1	39
36	Brandon	156	↑3	40
37	Cory	146	↓2	73
38	Dustin	143	new	68
39	Jonathan	143	↑2	31
40	Richard	138	–	21
41	Shane	132	↑2	65
42	Jacob	130	–	50
43	Patrick	130	↑4	42
44	Paul	129	↓6	33
45	Todd	128	↓11	56
46	Kyle	124	new	63
47	Jesse	118	↑1	51
48	Troy	118	↑2	88
49	Charles	117	↓3	27
50	Corey	114	↓6	61

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