The most popular names recorded in 1986 were Maria for girls and Johannes for boys. Full top-50 lists below, from Meertens NVB data.
| # | Name | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maria | 1,383 |
| 2 | Linda | 1,187 |
| 3 | Johanna | 1,088 |
| 4 | Kim | 1,038 |
| 5 | Sanne | 1,014 |
| 6 | Laura | 795 |
| 7 | Chantal | 717 |
| 8 | Esther | 716 |
| 9 | Wendy | 709 |
| 10 | Daniëlle | 651 |
| 11 | Joyce | 639 |
| 12 | Anna | 638 |
| 13 | Suzanne | 584 |
| 14 | Elisabeth | 581 |
| 15 | Mandy | 571 |
| 16 | Sandra | 515 |
| 17 | Stephanie | 505 |
| 18 | Samantha | 500 |
| 19 | Anne | 485 |
| 20 | Marieke | 479 |
| 21 | Marjolein | 447 |
| 22 | Denise | 438 |
| 23 | Maaike | 435 |
| 24 | Jessica | 431 |
| 25 | Cornelia | 428 |
| 26 | Nicole | 426 |
| 27 | Inge | 415 |
| 28 | Bianca | 412 |
| 29 | Eva | 411 |
| 30 | Rianne | 409 |
| 31 | Michelle | 408 |
| 32 | Nathalie | 401 |
| 33 | Judith | 400 |
| 34 | Tamara | 399 |
| 35 | Marloes | 396 |
| 36 | Kelly | 391 |
| 37 | Patricia | 385 |
| 38 | Leonie | 374 |
| 39 | Ellen | 366 |
| 40 | Ilse | 361 |
| 41 | Yvonne | 353 |
| 42 | Karin | 350 |
| 43 | Mariska | 345 |
| 44 | Amanda | 344 |
| 45 | Ilona | 337 |
| 46 | Saskia | 334 |
| 47 | Simone | 325 |
| 48 | Anouk | 321 |
| 49 | Priscilla | 321 |
| 50 | Catharina | 313 |
| # | Name | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johannes | 1,506 |
| 2 | Jeroen | 1,255 |
| 3 | Mark | 1,240 |
| 4 | Dennis | 1,137 |
| 5 | Jan | 1,123 |
| 6 | Michael | 1,116 |
| 7 | Kevin | 977 |
| 8 | Sander | 940 |
| 9 | Stefan | 864 |
| 10 | Thomas | 860 |
| 11 | Tim | 851 |
| 12 | Martijn | 793 |
| 13 | Robert | 748 |
| 14 | Patrick | 739 |
| 15 | Hendrik | 737 |
| 16 | Maarten | 736 |
| 17 | Danny | 721 |
| 18 | Jeffrey | 712 |
| 19 | Frank | 711 |
| 20 | Cornelis | 709 |
| 21 | Bart | 696 |
| 22 | Robin | 693 |
| 23 | Willem | 687 |
| 24 | Pieter | 683 |
| 25 | Erik | 682 |
| 26 | Roy | 673 |
| 27 | Peter | 662 |
| 28 | Niels | 656 |
| 29 | Rick | 652 |
| 30 | Daniël | 617 |
| 31 | Wouter | 611 |
| 32 | Richard | 599 |
| 33 | Tom | 563 |
| 34 | Paul | 561 |
| 35 | Wesley | 542 |
| 36 | Michel | 491 |
| 37 | Gerrit | 478 |
| 38 | Vincent | 447 |
| 39 | Rob | 429 |
| 40 | Alexander | 426 |
| 41 | Remco | 420 |
| 42 | Dirk | 403 |
| 43 | Joost | 403 |
| 44 | Marco | 399 |
| 45 | Jasper | 393 |
| 46 | Ronald | 391 |
| 47 | Nick | 389 |
| 48 | David | 386 |
| 49 | René | 383 |
| 50 | Sebastiaan | 380 |