Popular names of 1978, and how old they are now

People born in 1978 turn 48 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 3.2 million births in 1978 under names it lists, and by our estimate about 93% of them are still alive: about 3 million people.

The year's top names were Jennifer for girls and Michael for boys. Babies born that year are Gen Xers (see Gen X names).

12 names on AgeByName had their busiest year ever in 1978: Shaun, Kristy, Mandy, Kristopher, Tabitha, Shanna, Corinne, Lakesha, Aja, Marlena, Cristy and Shanta.

Top girl names of 1978

Most popular girl names of 1978
#	Name	Born 1978	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Jennifer	56,314	54,000	46
2	Melissa	28,327	27,000	46
3	Jessica	26,102	25,000	38
4	Amy	23,213	22,000	47
5	Heather	22,270	21,000	45
6	Amanda	20,520	20,000	39
7	Angela	20,517	20,000	49
8	Sarah	19,976	19,000	39
9	Michelle	18,856	18,000	48
10	Nicole	17,279	16,000	39
11	Lisa	17,033	16,000	56
12	Kelly	16,976	16,000	48
13	Kimberly	16,879	16,000	48
14	Elizabeth	16,807	16,000	44
15	Christina	16,367	16,000	44
16	Stephanie	16,233	15,000	43
17	Rebecca	13,796	13,000	48
18	Crystal	12,594	12,000	43
19	Laura	11,240	11,000	51
20	Jamie	10,982	10,000	43
21	Erin	10,786	10,000	39
22	Shannon	10,598	10,000	46
23	Andrea	10,461	10,000	42
24	Mary	10,040	9,600	66
25	Rachel	9,802	9,300	38
26	Julie	9,794	9,300	55
27	April	9,590	9,100	45
28	Sara	8,869	8,400	40
29	Christine	8,272	7,900	57
30	Amber	8,174	7,800	37
31	Danielle	7,983	7,600	38
32	Tiffany	7,701	7,300	40
33	Emily	7,473	7,100	29
34	Erica	7,340	7,000	40
35	Carrie	7,318	7,000	52
36	Maria	7,021	6,700	45
37	Brandy	6,699	6,400	43
38	Katherine	6,625	6,300	43
39	Karen	6,371	6,100	63
40	Tara	6,330	6,000	44
41	Megan	5,895	5,600	35
42	Monica	5,867	5,600	46
43	Misty	5,834	5,600	46
44	Stacy	5,776	5,500	50
45	Tina	5,699	5,400	56
46	Jill	5,676	5,400	57
47	Tracy	5,631	5,400	55
48	Patricia	5,498	5,200	68
49	Susan	5,418	5,200	66
50	Cynthia	5,403	5,100	60

Top boy names of 1978

Most popular boy names of 1978
#	Name	Born 1978	Alive today	Avg. age, everyone
1	Michael	67,127	62,000	49
2	Jason	51,600	47,000	42
3	Christopher	47,236	43,000	41
4	David	40,684	37,000	52
5	James	39,894	37,000	54
6	Matthew	34,282	31,000	36
7	John	34,014	31,000	55
8	Robert	33,374	31,000	58
9	Brian	29,432	27,000	48
10	Joseph	26,663	24,000	45
11	Daniel	26,441	24,000	42
12	Joshua	25,204	23,000	33
13	William	24,170	22,000	51
14	Ryan	21,322	20,000	33
15	Kevin	20,094	18,000	45
16	Eric	19,761	18,000	44
17	Timothy	19,597	18,000	50
18	Jeremy	19,509	18,000	39
19	Jeffrey	16,989	16,000	53
20	Anthony	16,808	15,000	40
21	Richard	16,734	15,000	60
22	Andrew	16,720	15,000	36
23	Thomas	16,481	15,000	53
24	Steven	16,390	15,000	52
25	Nicholas	16,342	15,000	33
26	Mark	14,851	14,000	56
27	Charles	14,844	14,000	54
28	Justin	14,183	13,000	34
29	Adam	13,918	13,000	35
30	Scott	13,539	12,000	53
31	Jonathan	12,514	11,000	35
32	Aaron	12,299	11,000	34
33	Paul	11,733	11,000	57
34	Benjamin	11,414	10,000	30
35	Chad	10,107	9,300	45
36	Nathan	9,890	9,100	30
37	Stephen	9,854	9,000	54
38	Gregory	9,340	8,600	54
39	Shawn	9,289	8,500	45
40	Brandon	9,241	8,500	33
41	Kenneth	9,021	8,300	57
42	Patrick	8,830	8,100	47
43	Bryan	7,291	6,700	39
44	Jose	7,148	6,600	34
45	Sean	7,059	6,500	38
46	Travis	6,953	6,400	39
47	Edward	6,473	5,900	56
48	Donald	6,423	5,900	64
49	Keith	6,172	5,700	54
50	Jacob	6,161	5,600	26

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 1978, from Social Security's records. “Alive today” estimates how many of them are still living, using SSA's cohort life tables for people born in 1978. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 1978 babies. How we calculate this