The most popular names recorded in 1978 were Maria for girls and Johannes for boys. Full top-50 lists below, from Meertens NVB data.
| # | Name | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maria | 1,674 |
| 2 | Johanna | 1,386 |
| 3 | Esther | 1,139 |
| 4 | Linda | 1,025 |
| 5 | Sandra | 991 |
| 6 | Wendy | 920 |
| 7 | Patricia | 904 |
| 8 | Monique | 864 |
| 9 | Kim | 837 |
| 10 | Bianca | 801 |
| 11 | Daniëlle | 765 |
| 12 | Marieke | 756 |
| 13 | Chantal | 752 |
| 14 | Judith | 697 |
| 15 | Anna | 629 |
| 16 | Saskia | 619 |
| 17 | Tamara | 612 |
| 18 | Elisabeth | 604 |
| 19 | Cindy | 555 |
| 20 | Miranda | 546 |
| 21 | Mirjam | 534 |
| 22 | Petra | 532 |
| 23 | Yvonne | 528 |
| 24 | Cornelia | 526 |
| 25 | Jessica | 512 |
| 26 | Joyce | 508 |
| 27 | Femke | 507 |
| 28 | Karin | 492 |
| 29 | Maaike | 486 |
| 30 | Jolanda | 479 |
| 31 | Claudia | 476 |
| 32 | Suzanne | 469 |
| 33 | Catharina | 420 |
| 34 | Ingrid | 419 |
| 35 | Mariska | 413 |
| 36 | Nicole | 394 |
| 37 | Marjolein | 393 |
| 38 | Simone | 378 |
| 39 | Adriana | 375 |
| 40 | Inge | 369 |
| 41 | Wilhelmina | 364 |
| 42 | Sabrina | 359 |
| 43 | Angelique | 348 |
| 44 | Natasja | 347 |
| 45 | Marloes | 346 |
| 46 | Barbara | 340 |
| 47 | Sylvia | 335 |
| 48 | Diana | 334 |
| 49 | Hendrika | 334 |
| 50 | Nathalie | 333 |
| # | Name | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johannes | 1,938 |
| 2 | Jeroen | 1,819 |
| 3 | Dennis | 1,760 |
| 4 | Jan | 1,372 |
| 5 | Martijn | 1,305 |
| 6 | Patrick | 1,080 |
| 7 | Mark | 1,056 |
| 8 | Hendrik | 944 |
| 9 | Robert | 926 |
| 10 | Peter | 914 |
| 11 | Marcel | 888 |
| 12 | Richard | 817 |
| 13 | Cornelis | 811 |
| 14 | Willem | 803 |
| 15 | Sander | 766 |
| 16 | Pieter | 750 |
| 17 | Erik | 723 |
| 18 | Sebastiaan | 700 |
| 19 | Ronald | 694 |
| 20 | Michel | 693 |
| 21 | Paul | 691 |
| 22 | Daniël | 651 |
| 23 | Maarten | 650 |
| 24 | Bart | 616 |
| 25 | Michael | 611 |
| 26 | Alexander | 603 |
| 27 | Niels | 595 |
| 28 | Remco | 587 |
| 29 | Marco | 585 |
| 30 | Wouter | 580 |
| 31 | Gerrit | 563 |
| 32 | Roy | 549 |
| 33 | Michiel | 535 |
| 34 | Vincent | 525 |
| 35 | Petrus | 515 |
| 36 | Joost | 513 |
| 37 | Johan | 509 |
| 38 | Bastiaan | 506 |
| 39 | René | 500 |
| 40 | Frank | 496 |
| 41 | Martin | 458 |
| 42 | Edwin | 454 |
| 43 | Björn | 452 |
| 44 | Stefan | 430 |
| 45 | Raymond | 429 |
| 46 | Jacob | 413 |
| 47 | Christiaan | 410 |
| 48 | Martinus | 410 |
| 49 | Rob | 405 |
| 50 | Dirk | 398 |