Most popular baby names of 1978
In 1978, the most popular names for US babies were Michael for boys (67,133 babies, 4.1% of boys) and Jennifer for girls (56,318 babies, 3.7% of girls). The rest of the top five were Jason, Christopher, David and James for boys and Melissa, Jessica, Amy and Heather for girls. SSA recorded 6,760 different boy names and 11,475 different girl names that year.
| Rank | Name | Babies | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael | 67,133 | – |
| 2 | Jason | 51,604 | – |
| 3 | Christopher | 47,236 | – |
| 4 | David | 40,684 | – |
| 5 | James | 39,902 | – |
| 6 | Matthew | 34,285 | ▲ 3 |
| 7 | John | 34,018 | – |
| 8 | Robert | 33,379 | ▼ 2 |
| 9 | Brian | 29,435 | ▼ 1 |
| 10 | Joseph | 26,667 | – |
| 11 | Daniel | 26,442 | – |
| 12 | Joshua | 25,206 | ▲ 2 |
| 13 | William | 24,174 | ▼ 1 |
| 14 | Ryan | 21,322 | ▲ 2 |
| 15 | Kevin | 20,096 | ▼ 2 |
| 16 | Eric | 19,763 | ▲ 1 |
| 17 | Timothy | 19,597 | ▲ 1 |
| 18 | Jeremy | 19,510 | ▼ 3 |
| 19 | Jeffrey | 16,993 | – |
| 20 | Anthony | 16,809 | ▲ 1 |
| 21 | Richard | 16,733 | ▼ 1 |
| 22 | Andrew | 16,722 | ▲ 2 |
| 23 | Thomas | 16,483 | ▼ 1 |
| 24 | Steven | 16,391 | ▼ 1 |
| 25 | Nicholas | 16,343 | ▲ 26 |
| 26 | Mark | 14,854 | ▼ 1 |
| 27 | Charles | 14,845 | ▼ 1 |
| 28 | Justin | 14,184 | ▲ 2 |
| 29 | Adam | 13,919 | ▲ 4 |
| 30 | Scott | 13,540 | ▼ 3 |
| 31 | Jonathan | 12,514 | ▼ 3 |
| 32 | Aaron | 12,298 | – |
| 33 | Paul | 11,733 | ▼ 2 |
| 34 | Benjamin | 11,414 | ▼ 5 |
| 35 | Chad | 10,108 | ▼ 1 |
| 36 | Nathan | 9,892 | – |
| 37 | Stephen | 9,855 | ▲ 1 |
| 38 | Gregory | 9,342 | ▼ 3 |
| 39 | Shawn | 9,290 | ▼ 2 |
| 40 | Brandon | 9,241 | ▲ 1 |
| 41 | Kenneth | 9,021 | ▼ 2 |
| 42 | Patrick | 8,831 | ▼ 2 |
| 43 | Bryan | 7,291 | ▼ 1 |
| 44 | Jose | 7,147 | ▲ 1 |
| 45 | Sean | 7,062 | ▼ 2 |
| 46 | Travis | 6,955 | ▼ 2 |
| 47 | Edward | 6,480 | – |
| 48 | Donald | 6,423 | ▼ 2 |
| 49 | Keith | 6,172 | ▼ 1 |
| 50 | Jacob | 6,162 | ▲ 6 |
| 51 | Jesse | 6,107 | ▲ 3 |
| 52 | Shaun | 6,105 | ▲ 51 |
| 53 | Bradley | 6,096 | ▼ 4 |
| 54 | Peter | 5,874 | ▲ 1 |
| 55 | Ronald | 5,759 | ▼ 2 |
| 56 | Todd | 5,497 | ▼ 6 |
| 57 | Samuel | 5,393 | ▲ 3 |
| 58 | George | 5,299 | ▼ 1 |
| 59 | Douglas | 5,150 | – |
| 60 | Gary | 5,112 | ▼ 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 | 4,473 | ▼ 2 |
| 67 | Phillip | 4,362 | ▲ 3 |
| 68 | Dustin | 4,177 | ▲ 13 |
| 69 | Raymond | 4,134 | ▼ 4 |
| 70 | Marcus | 3,996 | ▲ 2 |
| 71 | Dennis | 3,860 | ▼ 3 |
| 72 | Jared | 3,847 | ▲ 4 |
| 73 | Cory | 3,843 | ▼ 6 |
| 74 | Joel | 3,810 | ▼ 1 |
| 75 | Derek | 3,801 | ▲ 9 |
| 76 | Derrick | 3,786 | ▲ 4 |
| 77 | Frank | 3,776 | ▼ 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 | 3,262 | ▲ 9 |
| 86 | Randy | 3,220 | – |
| 87 | Brent | 3,181 | ▼ 2 |
| 88 | Troy | 3,153 | – |
| 89 | Zachary | 3,129 | ▲ 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 | 2,865 | ▼ 13 |
| 96 | Curtis | 2,825 | ▲ 4 |
| 97 | Tony | 2,772 | ▼ 5 |
| 98 | Alexander | 2,739 | ▼ 2 |
| 99 | Billy | 2,695 | ▼ 8 |
| 100 | Carl | 2,606 | ▼ 1 |
| Rank | Name | Babies | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jennifer | 56,318 | – |
| 2 | Melissa | 28,327 | – |
| 3 | Jessica | 26,103 | ▲ 1 |
| 4 | Amy | 23,214 | ▼ 1 |
| 5 | Heather | 22,270 | – |
| 6 | Amanda | 20,519 | ▲ 3 |
| 7 | Angela | 20,518 | ▼ 1 |
| 8 | Sarah | 19,976 | ▲ 3 |
| 9 | Michelle | 18,856 | ▼ 2 |
| 10 | Nicole | 17,280 | ▲ 5 |
| 11 | Lisa | 17,034 | ▲ 1 |
| 12 | Kelly | 16,977 | ▼ 2 |
| 13 | Kimberly | 16,878 | ▼ 5 |
| 14 | Elizabeth | 16,809 | ▼ 1 |
| 15 | Christina | 16,369 | ▲ 1 |
| 16 | Stephanie | 16,232 | ▼ 2 |
| 17 | Rebecca | 13,795 | – |
| 18 | Crystal | 12,592 | ▲ 7 |
| 19 | Laura | 11,242 | ▲ 1 |
| 20 | Jamie | 10,982 | ▼ 2 |
| 21 | Erin | 10,787 | ▲ 2 |
| 22 | Shannon | 10,599 | ▼ 3 |
| 23 | Andrea | 10,461 | ▲ 1 |
| 24 | Mary | 10,040 | ▼ 3 |
| 25 | Rachel | 9,802 | ▲ 1 |
| 26 | Julie | 9,794 | ▼ 4 |
| 27 | April | 9,591 | ▲ 2 |
| 28 | Sara | 8,869 | ▼ 1 |
| 29 | Christine | 8,272 | ▲ 1 |
| 30 | Amber | 8,174 | ▲ 3 |
| 31 | Danielle | 7,983 | – |
| 32 | Tiffany | 7,700 | ▲ 2 |
| 33 | Emily | 7,473 | ▲ 4 |
| 34 | Erica | 7,341 | ▲ 4 |
| 35 | Carrie | 7,318 | ▼ 7 |
| 36 | Maria | 7,019 | – |
| 37 | Brandy | 6,699 | ▲ 14 |
| 38 | Katherine | 6,625 | ▲ 6 |
| 39 | Karen | 6,371 | ▼ 7 |
| 40 | Tara | 6,330 | ▼ 5 |
| 41 | Megan | 5,897 | ▲ 13 |
| 42 | Monica | 5,867 | ▼ 3 |
| 43 | Misty | 5,834 | ▼ 3 |
| 44 | Stacy | 5,776 | ▼ 2 |
| 45 | Tina | 5,699 | ▲ 13 |
| 46 | Jill | 5,677 | ▼ 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 | ▲ 8 |
| 66 | Natalie | 4,165 | ▲ 3 |
| 67 | Tammy | 4,070 | ▼ 12 |
| 68 | Courtney | 4,031 | ▲ 8 |
| 69 | Sandra | 4,005 | ▼ 8 |
| 70 | Dana | 4,003 | ▼ 8 |
| 71 | Jaime | 4,003 | ▼ 25 |
| 72 | Catherine | 3,959 | ▲ 3 |
| 73 | Veronica | 3,934 | ▲ 1 |
| 74 | Samantha | 3,888 | ▲ 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 | 3,670 | ▲ 34 |
| 81 | Jacqueline | 3,576 | ▲ 11 |
| 82 | Tanya | 3,576 | ▼ 15 |
| 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 | 3,221 | ▼ 5 |
| 94 | Cheryl | 3,167 | ▲ 41 |
| 95 | Lindsay | 3,123 | ▲ 15 |
| 96 | Mandy | 3,110 | ▼ 2 |
| 97 | Nancy | 3,045 | ▼ 8 |
| 98 | Kristi | 2,992 | ▲ 6 |
| 99 | Renee | 2,969 | ▼ 12 |
| 100 | Linda | 2,930 | ▼ 1 |
Source: US Social Security Administration baby name data, 1978. Counts are Social Security card applications for US births; SSA leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies in a year. Updated 2026-10-05. How these numbers are made.