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The most popular baby names of 1978

SSA recorded 3,173,696 births in 1978 across all reported names — 1,531,859 girls and 1,641,837 boys.

Top 100 girls' names in 1978

Rank, births, and the change in rank against 1977.
#NameBirthsvs 1977
1 Jennifer 56,314 —
2 Melissa 28,327 —
3 Jessica 26,102 +1
4 Amy 23,213 -1
5 Heather 22,270 —
6 Amanda 20,520 +3
7 Angela 20,517 -1
8 Sarah 19,976 +3
9 Michelle 18,856 -2
10 Nicole 17,279 +5
11 Lisa 17,033 +1
12 Kelly 16,976 -2
13 Kimberly 16,879 -5
14 Elizabeth 16,807 -1
15 Christina 16,367 +1
16 Stephanie 16,233 -2
17 Rebecca 13,796 —
18 Crystal 12,594 +7
19 Laura 11,240 +1
20 Jamie 10,982 -2
21 Erin 10,786 +2
22 Shannon 10,598 -3
23 Andrea 10,461 +1
24 Mary 10,040 -3
25 Rachel 9,802 +1
26 Julie 9,794 -4
27 April 9,590 +2
28 Sara 8,869 -1
29 Christine 8,272 +1
30 Amber 8,174 +3
31 Danielle 7,983 —
32 Tiffany 7,701 +2
33 Emily 7,473 +4
34 Erica 7,340 +4
35 Carrie 7,318 -7
36 Maria 7,021 —
37 Brandy 6,699 +14
38 Katherine 6,625 +6
39 Karen 6,371 -7
40 Tara 6,330 -5
41 Megan 5,895 +13
42 Monica 5,867 -3
43 Misty 5,834 -3
44 Stacy 5,776 -2
45 Tina 5,699 +13
46 Jill 5,676 -5
47 Tracy 5,631 +3
48 Patricia 5,498 -1
49 Susan 5,418 -4
50 Cynthia 5,403 -2
51 Kristy 5,332 +17
52 Dawn 5,217 -9
53 Stacey 4,998 +3
54 Melanie 4,996 -1
55 Holly 4,972 -3
56 Wendy 4,918 -7
57 Kathryn 4,808 +13
58 Alicia 4,752 +2
59 Christy 4,661 —
60 Lori 4,631 -3
61 Brandi 4,500 +10
62 Kristen 4,368 +10
63 Leslie 4,342 +2
64 Kristina 4,229 +19
65 Anna 4,173 +9
66 Natalie 4,165 +3
67 Tammy 4,070 -12
68 Courtney 4,031 +8
69 Sandra 4,005 -8
70 Jaime 4,003 -24
71 Dana 4,002 -9
72 Catherine 3,958 +3
73 Veronica 3,933 —
74 Samantha 3,886 +11
75 Allison 3,864 -9
76 Vanessa 3,853 +14
77 Tonya 3,826 -13
78 Kristin 3,807 +4
79 Kathleen 3,743 +1
80 Lauren 3,669 +34
81 Jacqueline 3,576 +11
81 Tanya 3,576 -14
83 Heidi 3,567 -2
84 Melinda 3,563 +12
85 Denise 3,519 -7
86 Michele 3,484 -9
87 Ashley 3,482 +19
88 Teresa 3,472 -9
89 Robin 3,440 -5
90 Katie 3,426 +25
91 Sabrina 3,350 -28
92 Valerie 3,299 -6
93 Gina 3,220 -5
94 Cheryl 3,167 +41
95 Lindsay 3,123 +15
96 Mandy 3,110 -2
97 Nancy 3,044 -8
98 Kristi 2,992 +6
99 Renee 2,969 -12
100 Linda 2,932 -1

Top 100 boys' names in 1978

Rank, births, and the change in rank against 1977.
#NameBirthsvs 1977
1 Michael 67,127 —
2 Jason 51,600 —
3 Christopher 47,236 —
4 David 40,684 —
5 James 39,894 —
6 Matthew 34,282 +3
7 John 34,014 —
8 Robert 33,374 -2
9 Brian 29,432 -1
10 Joseph 26,663 —
11 Daniel 26,441 —
12 Joshua 25,204 +2
13 William 24,170 -1
14 Ryan 21,322 +2
15 Kevin 20,094 -2
16 Eric 19,761 +1
17 Timothy 19,597 +1
18 Jeremy 19,509 -3
19 Jeffrey 16,989 —
20 Anthony 16,808 +1
21 Richard 16,734 -1
22 Andrew 16,720 +2
23 Thomas 16,481 -1
24 Steven 16,390 -1
25 Nicholas 16,342 +26
26 Mark 14,851 -1
27 Charles 14,844 -1
28 Justin 14,183 +2
29 Adam 13,918 +4
30 Scott 13,539 -3
31 Jonathan 12,514 -3
32 Aaron 12,299 —
33 Paul 11,733 -2
34 Benjamin 11,414 -5
35 Chad 10,107 -1
36 Nathan 9,890 —
37 Stephen 9,854 +1
38 Gregory 9,340 -3
39 Shawn 9,289 -2
40 Brandon 9,241 +1
41 Kenneth 9,021 -2
42 Patrick 8,830 -2
43 Bryan 7,291 -1
44 Jose 7,148 +1
45 Sean 7,059 -2
46 Travis 6,953 -2
47 Edward 6,473 —
48 Donald 6,423 -2
49 Keith 6,172 -1
50 Jacob 6,161 +6
51 Jesse 6,107 +3
52 Shaun 6,105 +51
53 Bradley 6,096 -4
54 Peter 5,872 +1
55 Ronald 5,758 -2
56 Todd 5,497 -6
57 Samuel 5,394 +3
58 George 5,297 -1
59 Douglas 5,151 —
60 Gary 5,111 -2
61 Corey 4,942 -9
62 Juan 4,837 +1
63 Kyle 4,517 +16
64 Larry 4,514 -2
65 Shane 4,480 -4
66 Craig 4,472 -2
67 Phillip 4,362 +3
68 Dustin 4,177 +13
69 Raymond 4,134 -4
70 Marcus 3,995 +2
71 Dennis 3,861 -3
72 Jared 3,847 +4
73 Cory 3,842 -6
74 Joel 3,810 -1
75 Derek 3,800 +9
76 Derrick 3,786 +4
77 Frank 3,775 -6
78 Carlos 3,729 -4
79 Antonio 3,677 -2
80 Jeffery 3,543 -2
81 Jeremiah 3,445 -12
82 Jerry 3,427 -7
83 Wesley 3,306 -17
84 Philip 3,298 +6
85 Erik 3,261 +9
86 Randy 3,220 —
87 Brent 3,181 -2
88 Troy 3,152 —
89 Zachary 3,127 +6
90 Gabriel 3,126 -3
91 Terry 3,089 -8
92 Casey 3,003 +10
93 Russell 2,984 -4
94 Nathaniel 2,925 +13
95 Jamie 2,864 -13
96 Curtis 2,825 +4
97 Tony 2,770 -5
98 Alexander 2,738 -2
99 Billy 2,695 -8
100 Carl 2,606 -1

Names that climbed fastest in 1978

Ranked by places gained against 1977, among names with at least 200 births in both years.

NameRank 1978Rank 1977Change
Lacey girls 293 573 +280
Abby girls 349 607 +258
Mayra girls 483 727 +244
Devon girls 307 543 +236
Corinne girls 272 482 +210
Tessa girls 451 636 +185
Nickolas boys 310 495 +185
Destiny girls 547 727 +180
Ryan girls 368 514 +146
Qiana girls 507 649 +142
Carolina girls 486 624 +138
Logan boys 454 592 +138
Hillary girls 318 451 +133
Gabrielle girls 471 599 +128
Kenisha girls 557 684 +127

Names that fell fastest in 1978

NameRank 1978Rank 1977Change
Farrah girls 539 177 -362
Salina girls 762 495 -267
Rashida girls 754 535 -219
Kizzy girls 439 223 -216
Levar boys 513 342 -171
Tammi girls 731 581 -150
Gladys girls 767 621 -146
Sunshine girls 696 574 -122
Stacia girls 754 633 -121
Selina girls 592 479 -113
Kerrie girls 705 593 -112
Charmaine girls 691 580 -111
Ingrid girls 679 571 -108
Aisha girls 282 175 -107
Marisela girls 714 608 -106

Names that first appear in 1978

1978 is the earliest year these names clear the SSA reporting threshold of five births.

Names that peaked in 1978

For these names, 1978 is the single biggest year in the whole 1880–2025 record.