Popular baby names in Massachusetts, 1978

The most popular baby names in Massachusetts in 1978 were Jennifer for girls (1,492 babies) and Michael for boys (2,132). Social Security records list 62,807 babies born in Massachusetts in 1978 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in Massachusetts in 1978

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

Girls

Katelyn: 15 babies, 18.4× the national rate
Caitlin: 54 babies, 12.6× the national rate
Meaghan: 44 babies, 9.1× the national rate
Siobhan: 16 babies, 7× the national rate
Maura: 25 babies, 6.8× the national rate
Lynne: 26 babies, 6.1× the national rate
Kerry: 111 babies, 5× the national rate
Julianne: 22 babies, 4.5× the national rate
Kerri: 105 babies, 4.4× the national rate
Kate: 83 babies, 4.3× the national rate

Boys

Brendan: 85 babies, 4.7× the national rate
Dana: 41 babies, 3.8× the national rate
Gregg: 26 babies, 3.5× the national rate
Nelson: 42 babies, 3.1× the national rate
Peter: 350 babies, 3× the national rate
Gerard: 20 babies, 2.9× the national rate
Bradford: 34 babies, 2.8× the national rate
Salvatore: 19 babies, 2.7× the national rate
Marc: 127 babies, 2.5× the national rate
Ethan: 30 babies, 2.4× the national rate

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

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1977	US rank
1	Jennifer	1,492	–	1
2	Melissa	863	↑1	2
3	Jessica	772	↓1	3
4	Amy	603	–	4
5	Sarah	574	↑1	8
6	Michelle	572	↓1	9
7	Nicole	569	↑3	10
8	Elizabeth	553	↑1	14
9	Lisa	530	↑2	11
10	Heather	513	↓3	5
11	Kelly	496	↓3	12
12	Erin	400	↑1	21
13	Christine	386	↑1	29
14	Kimberly	367	↓2	13
15	Rebecca	365	–	17
16	Danielle	347	↑1	31
17	Julie	334	↓1	26
18	Stephanie	325	–	16
19	Christina	310	↑5	15
20	Amanda	307	↓1	6
21	Kristen	287	↑6	62
22	Andrea	266	↓1	23
23	Laura	256	↓3	19
24	Angela	251	↑2	7
25	Rachel	245	↑8	25
26	Kathleen	240	↑6	79
27	Katherine	219	↑1	38
28	Emily	214	↑3	33
29	Jill	209	↓7	46
30	Mary	206	↓1	24
31	Shannon	201	↓6	22
32	Karen	196	↓9	39
33	Lauren	190	↑6	80
34	Tara	189	↓4	40
35	Sara	180	↑1	28
36	Erica	172	↑4	34
37	Kristin	168	↑8	78
38	Jamie	157	↓3	20
39	Susan	155	↓2	49
40	Maria	151	↑9	36
41	Kathryn	149	new	57
42	Crystal	144	new	18
43	Catherine	141	new	72
44	Megan	141	↓3	41
45	Tracy	138	↓2	47
46	Meghan	133	new	>100
47	Stacey	132	↓9	53
48	Melanie	131	↓2	54
49	Katie	126	new	90
50	Colleen	125	↓2	>100

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1977	US rank
1	Michael	2,132	–	1
2	Matthew	1,318	↑1	6
3	Christopher	1,245	↑1	3
4	Jason	1,149	↓2	2
5	David	1,103	–	4
6	John	905	↑1	7
7	James	860	↑1	5
8	Daniel	858	↑1	11
9	Brian	815	↓3	9
10	Robert	794	–	8
11	Joseph	731	–	10
12	Jeffrey	604	↑1	19
13	Kevin	594	↓1	15
14	Timothy	575	↑3	17
15	William	514	–	13
16	Andrew	490	↑2	22
17	Eric	484	↓3	16
18	Joshua	476	↑4	12
19	Richard	466	–	21
20	Thomas	457	↓4	23
21	Mark	449	↓1	26
22	Ryan	442	↑1	14
23	Scott	432	↑1	30
24	Adam	427	↑5	29
25	Paul	421	↓4	33
26	Stephen	411	–	37
27	Jonathan	371	↑1	31
28	Nicholas	369	↑19	25
29	Peter	350	↑1	54
30	Steven	346	↓5	24
31	Anthony	339	–	20
32	Patrick	308	↑6	42
33	Justin	302	↑1	28
34	Sean	300	↓7	45
35	Gregory	296	↓3	38
36	Benjamin	271	↓3	34
37	Shawn	250	↓1	39
38	Keith	243	↓1	49
39	Charles	241	–	27
40	Jeremy	230	↓5	18
41	Edward	189	–	47
42	Kenneth	175	↑1	41
43	Todd	171	↓1	56
44	Nathan	168	↓4	36
45	Shaun	164	new	52
46	Aaron	159	↑2	32
47	Derek	146	↓3	75
48	Bryan	136	↓3	43
49	Jesse	135	new	51
50	Craig	133	↓1	66

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