Popular baby names in South Dakota, 1978

The most popular baby names in South Dakota in 1978 were Jennifer for girls (215 babies) and Michael for boys (207). Social Security records list 9,484 babies born in South Dakota in 1978 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in South Dakota in 1978

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

Girls

Kari: 26 babies, 4.8× the national rate
Jill: 64 babies, 4.1× the national rate
Heidi: 38 babies, 3.8× the national rate
Kelli: 22 babies, 3.4× the national rate
Kristi: 26 babies, 3.1× the national rate
Amber: 68 babies, 3× the national rate
Nichole: 21 babies, 3× the national rate
Sara: 72 babies, 2.9× the national rate
Jodi: 18 babies, 2.9× the national rate
Stacy: 45 babies, 2.8× the national rate

Boys

Wade: 26 babies, 10.5× the national rate
Darin: 15 babies, 8.8× the national rate
Cody: 42 babies, 7.8× the national rate
Lance: 28 babies, 4.5× the national rate
Travis: 91 babies, 4.1× the national rate
Chris: 15 babies, 3.5× the national rate
Cory: 42 babies, 3.4× the national rate
Trevor: 15 babies, 3.3× the national rate
Jay: 22 babies, 3.2× the national rate
Dustin: 38 babies, 2.9× the national rate

Top 50 girls' and boys' names in South Dakota, 1978

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1977	US rank
1	Jennifer	215	–	1
2	Jessica	143	↑2	3
3	Amy	119	↓1	4
4	Melissa	105	↑3	2
5	Sarah	105	↑1	8
6	Angela	103	↓1	7
7	Heather	93	↓4	5
8	Rebecca	88	↑5	17
9	Nicole	81	–	10
10	Michelle	75	↓2	9
11	Stephanie	75	↓1	16
12	Sara	72	↓1	28
13	Amber	68	↑5	30
14	Jill	64	↑11	46
15	Amanda	63	–	6
16	Lisa	59	↓4	11
17	Erin	55	↑6	21
18	Kelly	54	↑9	12
19	Kimberly	54	↓5	13
20	Laura	53	↑4	19
21	Andrea	49	↑14	23
22	Elizabeth	48	↓5	14
23	Jamie	48	↓4	20
24	Tara	46	↑2	40
25	Stacy	45	↓4	44
26	Shannon	40	↑2	22
27	Christina	39	↑2	15
28	Heidi	38	↓12	83
29	Crystal	35	↑11	18
30	Julie	33	↓8	26
31	Lori	32	↑10	60
32	Emily	31	–	33
33	Holly	31	new	55
34	Dawn	30	↓3	52
35	Carrie	29	↓15	35
36	April	28	↑10	27
37	Susan	28	↑11	49
38	Tanya	27	new	82
39	Kari	26	↓5	>100
40	Kristi	26	new	98
41	Mary	26	↑1	24
42	Tracy	26	↓5	47
43	Danielle	25	↑4	31
44	Misty	25	↓8	43
45	Rachel	25	↓12	25
46	Erica	23	new	34
47	Stacey	23	↑3	53
48	Tina	23	new	45
49	Wendy	23	↓6	56
50	Katherine	22	↓1	38

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1977	US rank
1	Michael	207	↑1	1
2	Jason	176	↓1	2
3	Ryan	173	–	14
4	Christopher	157	↑2	3
5	Matthew	155	↓1	6
6	Jeremy	149	↓1	18
7	Joshua	124	↑1	12
8	Justin	121	↑7	28
9	Brian	101	–	9
10	David	101	↓3	4
11	Eric	95	↓1	16
12	John	92	↓1	7
13	Robert	92	↑3	8
14	Travis	91	↓1	46
15	Nathan	85	↑5	36
16	Chad	84	↓4	35
17	Daniel	83	↑2	11
18	James	83	↓4	5
19	Timothy	75	↑8	17
20	Aaron	74	↑2	32
21	Steven	72	–	24
22	Scott	68	↓5	30
23	Andrew	66	↑6	22
24	Joseph	66	↓6	10
25	Jeffrey	64	↓2	19
26	Nicholas	60	new	25
27	Thomas	60	↑6	23
28	Mark	55	↓2	26
29	Jesse	54	↓1	51
30	Paul	54	↑11	33
31	Adam	52	↓7	29
32	Kevin	46	↓7	15
33	Anthony	44	↑2	20
34	Benjamin	44	↓3	34
35	Shawn	44	↓5	39
36	William	43	–	13
37	Cody	42	new	>100
38	Cory	42	↓6	73
39	Charles	40	↓2	27
40	Shane	39	↑3	65
41	Dustin	38	↑9	68
42	Patrick	37	new	42
43	Kyle	36	new	63
44	Richard	36	↓10	21
45	Bradley	35	new	53
46	Brandon	35	↓8	40
47	Gregory	34	new	38
48	Todd	33	↓4	56
49	Jonathan	32	↓2	31
50	Jacob	31	↓2	50

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