Popular baby names in Minnesota, 1978

The most popular baby names in Minnesota in 1978 were Jennifer for girls (1,247 babies) and Michael for boys (1,275). Social Security records list 56,003 babies born in Minnesota in 1978 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in Minnesota in 1978

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

Girls

Kari: 179 babies, 5.2× the national rate
Molly: 172 babies, 5.1× the national rate
Renae: 20 babies, 4.2× the national rate
Katie: 229 babies, 3.9× the national rate
Jolene: 42 babies, 3.8× the national rate
Jody: 71 babies, 3.5× the national rate
Sonja: 29 babies, 3.5× the national rate
Alissa: 31 babies, 3.3× the national rate
Karin: 24 babies, 3.3× the national rate
Heidi: 186 babies, 3× the national rate

Boys

Reid: 23 babies, 6.7× the national rate
Jed: 19 babies, 3.8× the national rate
Darin: 35 babies, 3.7× the national rate
Ross: 59 babies, 3.6× the national rate
Luke: 105 babies, 3.1× the national rate
Dylan: 26 babies, 3× the national rate
Jesse: 317 babies, 2.9× the national rate
Brent: 165 babies, 2.9× the national rate
Wade: 41 babies, 2.9× the national rate
Nickolas: 30 babies, 2.9× the national rate

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

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1977	US rank
1	Jennifer	1,247	–	1
2	Jessica	783	–	3
3	Sarah	783	–	8
4	Melissa	724	↑1	2
5	Angela	657	↑1	7
6	Amy	603	↓2	4
7	Nicole	546	↑3	10
8	Kelly	476	↓1	12
9	Heather	420	↓1	5
10	Lisa	415	↑4	11
11	Sara	415	–	28
12	Michelle	401	↓3	9
13	Rebecca	376	↓1	17
14	Elizabeth	343	↓1	14
15	Amanda	310	↑1	6
16	Erin	310	↑2	21
17	Christina	300	↑4	15
18	Laura	287	↓1	19
19	Andrea	276	↑6	23
20	Jill	276	↑3	46
21	Stephanie	275	↓6	16
22	Julie	253	↑2	26
23	Rachel	247	↑5	25
24	Kimberly	235	↓4	13
25	Katie	229	↑14	90
26	Katherine	226	↑3	38
27	Shannon	222	↓8	22
28	Emily	218	↑2	33
29	Jamie	215	↓2	20
30	Stacy	192	↑1	44
31	Amber	191	↑5	30
32	Christine	189	↑1	29
33	Heidi	186	↓7	83
34	Kari	179	↓2	>100
35	Carrie	178	↓13	35
36	Kathryn	177	↑2	57
37	Molly	172	↓2	>100
38	Megan	169	↑4	41
39	Mary	150	↓2	24
40	Kristina	149	new	64
41	Tracy	141	↑2	47
42	Kristin	140	↓2	78
43	Tina	139	↑4	45
44	Danielle	137	new	31
45	Crystal	136	new	18
46	Tara	131	↓12	40
47	Holly	127	↓2	55
48	Erica	121	new	34
49	Dawn	120	↓5	52
50	Melanie	117	new	54

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1977	US rank
1	Michael	1,275	–	1
2	Jason	1,038	–	2
3	Matthew	982	–	6
4	Ryan	865	–	14
5	Christopher	763	–	3
6	David	694	↑3	4
7	Joshua	693	↑3	12
8	Andrew	667	↑6	22
9	Daniel	640	↓2	11
10	Brian	633	↓4	9
11	Joseph	600	↑1	10
12	Jeremy	579	↓4	18
13	Nicholas	562	↑22	25
14	Eric	530	↓1	16
15	John	512	↓4	7
16	James	489	↓1	5
17	Jeffrey	481	↓1	19
18	Nathan	466	–	36
19	Chad	444	↓2	35
20	Timothy	440	↑1	17
21	Robert	432	↑3	8
22	Aaron	413	–	32
23	Adam	412	↑6	29
24	Benjamin	407	↓5	34
25	Justin	387	↓2	28
26	Scott	383	↓6	30
27	Mark	370	↓1	26
28	Thomas	345	↓1	23
29	Anthony	343	↓1	20
30	Paul	326	↓5	33
31	Jesse	317	–	51
32	Steven	309	↓2	24
33	Kevin	286	↓1	15
34	Jacob	244	↑5	50
35	William	240	↓2	13
36	Brandon	235	↑7	40
37	Shawn	225	↓3	39
38	Jonathan	214	↑2	31
39	Travis	214	↓2	46
40	Patrick	211	↓4	42
41	Peter	200	↑3	54
42	Richard	198	↓1	21
43	Bradley	188	↓5	53
44	Charles	179	↑3	27
45	Kyle	177	new	63
46	Brent	165	–	87
47	Todd	157	↑2	56
48	Cory	151	↓6	73
49	Gregory	149	↓4	38
50	Bryan	148	new	43

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