The most popular names recorded in 1979 were Maria for girls and Johannes for boys. Full top-50 lists below, from Meertens NVB data.
| # | Name | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maria | 1,664 |
| 2 | Johanna | 1,341 |
| 3 | Linda | 1,115 |
| 4 | Esther | 1,038 |
| 5 | Wendy | 899 |
| 6 | Kim | 895 |
| 7 | Monique | 817 |
| 8 | Chantal | 805 |
| 9 | Patricia | 801 |
| 10 | Marieke | 757 |
| 11 | Sandra | 747 |
| 12 | Bianca | 706 |
| 13 | Anna | 687 |
| 14 | Judith | 667 |
| 15 | Daniëlle | 665 |
| 16 | Saskia | 641 |
| 17 | Elisabeth | 573 |
| 18 | Tamara | 572 |
| 19 | Cornelia | 561 |
| 20 | Jessica | 552 |
| 21 | Mirjam | 542 |
| 22 | Miranda | 519 |
| 23 | Maaike | 512 |
| 24 | Suzanne | 505 |
| 25 | Joyce | 496 |
| 26 | Karin | 493 |
| 27 | Petra | 487 |
| 28 | Cindy | 478 |
| 29 | Mariska | 471 |
| 30 | Yvonne | 471 |
| 31 | Jolanda | 445 |
| 32 | Catharina | 427 |
| 33 | Marjolein | 427 |
| 34 | Nicole | 423 |
| 35 | Claudia | 409 |
| 36 | Femke | 405 |
| 37 | Angelique | 397 |
| 38 | Wilhelmina | 389 |
| 39 | Ingrid | 380 |
| 40 | Inge | 376 |
| 41 | Hendrika | 375 |
| 42 | Adriana | 368 |
| 43 | Laura | 368 |
| 44 | Nathalie | 358 |
| 45 | Petronella | 349 |
| 46 | Martine | 347 |
| 47 | Simone | 346 |
| 48 | Ilona | 344 |
| 49 | Janneke | 343 |
| 50 | Vanessa | 342 |
| # | Name | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johannes | 1,870 |
| 2 | Jeroen | 1,844 |
| 3 | Dennis | 1,504 |
| 4 | Jan | 1,370 |
| 5 | Martijn | 1,249 |
| 6 | Mark | 1,049 |
| 7 | Patrick | 1,048 |
| 8 | Peter | 975 |
| 9 | Robert | 922 |
| 10 | Sander | 849 |
| 11 | Cornelis | 820 |
| 12 | Sebastiaan | 794 |
| 13 | Hendrik | 792 |
| 14 | Marcel | 777 |
| 15 | Richard | 765 |
| 16 | Willem | 760 |
| 17 | Erik | 739 |
| 18 | Maarten | 716 |
| 19 | Michel | 701 |
| 20 | Ronald | 696 |
| 21 | Pieter | 685 |
| 22 | Daniël | 680 |
| 23 | Alexander | 672 |
| 24 | Wouter | 662 |
| 25 | Michael | 640 |
| 26 | Niels | 596 |
| 27 | Bart | 592 |
| 28 | Paul | 580 |
| 29 | Remco | 572 |
| 30 | Roy | 564 |
| 31 | Gerrit | 548 |
| 32 | Petrus | 545 |
| 33 | Vincent | 536 |
| 34 | Frank | 524 |
| 35 | Marco | 524 |
| 36 | Michiel | 517 |
| 37 | René | 492 |
| 38 | Joost | 474 |
| 39 | Johan | 471 |
| 40 | Dirk | 441 |
| 41 | Bastiaan | 433 |
| 42 | Björn | 425 |
| 43 | Martinus | 424 |
| 44 | Arjan | 420 |
| 45 | Raymond | 416 |
| 46 | Christiaan | 408 |
| 47 | Martin | 408 |
| 48 | Stefan | 407 |
| 49 | Danny | 398 |
| 50 | David | 394 |