The most popular names recorded in 1981 were Maria for girls and Johannes for boys. Full top-50 lists below, from Meertens NVB data.
| # | Name | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maria | 1,647 |
| 2 | Johanna | 1,279 |
| 3 | Linda | 1,248 |
| 4 | Kim | 1,029 |
| 5 | Wendy | 899 |
| 6 | Esther | 815 |
| 7 | Marieke | 801 |
| 8 | Chantal | 751 |
| 9 | Bianca | 674 |
| 10 | Sandra | 662 |
| 11 | Patricia | 650 |
| 12 | Elisabeth | 649 |
| 13 | Anna | 645 |
| 14 | Daniëlle | 630 |
| 15 | Judith | 607 |
| 16 | Saskia | 582 |
| 17 | Suzanne | 576 |
| 18 | Ilona | 566 |
| 19 | Karin | 557 |
| 20 | Monique | 542 |
| 21 | Jessica | 539 |
| 22 | Joyce | 531 |
| 23 | Marloes | 530 |
| 24 | Maaike | 514 |
| 25 | Tamara | 506 |
| 26 | Marjolein | 498 |
| 27 | Cornelia | 489 |
| 28 | Laura | 484 |
| 29 | Femke | 472 |
| 30 | Yvonne | 432 |
| 31 | Ellen | 429 |
| 32 | Eva | 429 |
| 33 | Miranda | 419 |
| 34 | Mirjam | 412 |
| 35 | Jolanda | 407 |
| 36 | Inge | 401 |
| 37 | Vanessa | 393 |
| 38 | Adriana | 390 |
| 39 | Anne | 390 |
| 40 | Catharina | 385 |
| 41 | Petra | 377 |
| 42 | Wilhelmina | 369 |
| 43 | Susanne | 351 |
| 44 | Mariska | 345 |
| 45 | Janneke | 341 |
| 46 | Hendrika | 334 |
| 47 | Sabrina | 321 |
| 48 | Angelique | 320 |
| 49 | Ingrid | 318 |
| 50 | Nathalie | 315 |
| # | Name | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johannes | 1,898 |
| 2 | Jeroen | 1,597 |
| 3 | Dennis | 1,320 |
| 4 | Jan | 1,262 |
| 5 | Mark | 1,107 |
| 6 | Martijn | 1,053 |
| 7 | Peter | 951 |
| 8 | Robert | 913 |
| 9 | Patrick | 903 |
| 10 | Wouter | 840 |
| 11 | Sander | 816 |
| 12 | Cornelis | 806 |
| 13 | Hendrik | 798 |
| 14 | Richard | 784 |
| 15 | Maarten | 781 |
| 16 | Pieter | 780 |
| 17 | Bart | 757 |
| 18 | Willem | 750 |
| 19 | Ronald | 693 |
| 20 | Michael | 686 |
| 21 | Paul | 680 |
| 22 | Marcel | 670 |
| 23 | Erik | 665 |
| 24 | Daniël | 662 |
| 25 | Roy | 635 |
| 26 | Niels | 627 |
| 27 | Michel | 609 |
| 28 | Frank | 585 |
| 29 | Gerrit | 581 |
| 30 | Sebastiaan | 558 |
| 31 | Johan | 536 |
| 32 | Alexander | 519 |
| 33 | Vincent | 518 |
| 34 | Michiel | 508 |
| 35 | Remco | 492 |
| 36 | Stefan | 484 |
| 37 | Petrus | 474 |
| 38 | Joost | 470 |
| 39 | René | 465 |
| 40 | David | 459 |
| 41 | Rob | 449 |
| 42 | Thomas | 449 |
| 43 | Danny | 433 |
| 44 | Martin | 413 |
| 45 | Dirk | 409 |
| 46 | Martinus | 404 |
| 47 | Tim | 399 |
| 48 | Marco | 388 |
| 49 | Marinus | 388 |
| 50 | Arjan | 384 |