Born in 1978 · Gen X
Baby names of 1978
The Social Security name files, which cover every name given to at least 5 babies, list 3,173,696 babies born in 1978: 1,531,859 girls and 1,641,837 boys. Jennifer and Michael were the most popular names, and 20.7% of all babies got a top-10 name, down from 22.4% in 1968. The name most tied to 1978 is Lakisha: among girls, it was 15× as common that year as in the decades around it.
Quick facts
- Generation
- Gen X
- Born 1965–1980
- Babies on record
- 3,173,696
- 1,531,859 girls · 1,641,837 boys
- Different names
- 11,475
- for girls, plus 6,762 for boys (5+ babies each)
- Top-10 names
- 20.7%
- of babies got one · girls 16.5%, boys 24.6%
Top 10 names of 1978
- Jennifer was the #1 name for girls every year from 1970 to 1984.
- Michael was the #1 name for boys every year from 1961 to 1998.
How many babies got a top-10 name?
In 1978, 20.7% of babies were given one of that year's 10 most popular names. Across all years, that share fell from 29.0% in 1935 to 7.5% in 2025.
Names that sound like 1978
These names were far more common in 1978 than in the decades around it: the multiplier compares each name's share of 1978 babies with its average share 6–25 years before and after.
| Name | Sex | Rank | Vs. nearby |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lakisha | Girl | #233 | 15× |
| Jaime | Girl | #70 | 11× |
| Mandy | Girl | #96 | 11× |
| Tameka | Girl | #247 | 11× |
| Tamika | Girl | #166 | 10× |
| Misty | Girl | #43 | 9.3× |
| Shaun | Boy | #52 | 8.6× |
| Kristy | Girl | #51 | 7.4× |
| Brandy | Girl | #37 | 7.3× |
| Lakeisha | Girl | #286 | 6.6× |
Names that peaked in 1978
Each of these reached its highest share of US babies in 1978, the high point in records going back to 1880. Rank is for 1978.
| Name | Sex | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Christina | Girl | #15 |
| Brandy | Girl | #37 |
| Shaun | Boy | #52 |
| Kristy | Girl | #51 |
| Mandy | Girl | #96 |
| Kristopher | Boy | #104 |
| Tabitha | Girl | #126 |
| Shanna | Girl | #149 |
| Janelle | Girl | #186 |
| Lakeisha | Girl | #286 |
New to the top 1,000 in 1978
Names that made the national top 1,000 for the first time in 1978 (records go back to 1880).
Girls
- Chrissy560 babies
- Kylie509 babies
- Aja491 babies
- Devin418 babies
- Meghann301 babies
- Crissy274 babies
- Kiley273 babies
- Meaghan251 babies
Boys
- Anwar144 babies
- Nicholaus130 babies
- Kenji128 babies
- Nikolas108 babies
- Demario107 babies
- Johnpaul94 babies
- Nicklaus92 babies
- Jarret91 babies
Where are they now?
Top-100 names of 1978 that have since dropped out of the top 1,000. Ranks are for 1978 and 2025.
Girls
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data