The most popular names recorded in 1988 were Maria for girls and Johannes for boys. Full top-50 lists below, from Meertens NVB data.
| # | Name | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maria | 1,126 |
| 2 | Anne | 1,004 |
| 3 | Kim | 955 |
| 4 | Johanna | 920 |
| 5 | Sanne | 915 |
| 6 | Linda | 895 |
| 7 | Laura | 857 |
| 8 | Chantal | 757 |
| 9 | Samantha | 630 |
| 10 | Anna | 617 |
| 11 | Esther | 611 |
| 12 | Daniëlle | 607 |
| 13 | Stephanie | 599 |
| 14 | Suzanne | 581 |
| 15 | Elisabeth | 566 |
| 16 | Wendy | 524 |
| 17 | Joyce | 505 |
| 18 | Mandy | 500 |
| 19 | Sharon | 485 |
| 20 | Michelle | 477 |
| 21 | Anouk | 466 |
| 22 | Kelly | 461 |
| 23 | Jessica | 456 |
| 24 | Denise | 446 |
| 25 | Iris | 440 |
| 26 | Marloes | 420 |
| 27 | Charlotte | 414 |
| 28 | Melissa | 411 |
| 29 | Sandra | 409 |
| 30 | Marjolein | 406 |
| 31 | Marieke | 404 |
| 32 | Maaike | 398 |
| 33 | Nicole | 388 |
| 34 | Cornelia | 383 |
| 35 | Yvonne | 379 |
| 36 | Inge | 373 |
| 37 | Simone | 373 |
| 38 | Rianne | 370 |
| 39 | Melanie | 359 |
| 40 | Lisanne | 356 |
| 41 | Ilse | 355 |
| 42 | Nathalie | 352 |
| 43 | Judith | 346 |
| 44 | Mariska | 345 |
| 45 | Eva | 341 |
| 46 | Kimberley | 334 |
| 47 | Ellen | 330 |
| 48 | Manon | 323 |
| 49 | Daisy | 315 |
| 50 | Daphne | 315 |
| # | Name | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johannes | 1,338 |
| 2 | Jeroen | 1,294 |
| 3 | Kevin | 1,110 |
| 4 | Mark | 1,067 |
| 5 | Michael | 1,044 |
| 6 | Jan | 1,009 |
| 7 | Dennis | 963 |
| 8 | Tim | 961 |
| 9 | Thomas | 957 |
| 10 | Stefan | 936 |
| 11 | Martijn | 869 |
| 12 | Roy | 832 |
| 13 | Patrick | 830 |
| 14 | Sander | 824 |
| 15 | Danny | 784 |
| 16 | Robin | 777 |
| 17 | Jeffrey | 743 |
| 18 | Bart | 732 |
| 19 | Willem | 677 |
| 20 | Niels | 667 |
| 21 | Robert | 653 |
| 22 | Rick | 650 |
| 23 | Nick | 648 |
| 24 | Hendrik | 642 |
| 25 | Tom | 630 |
| 26 | Frank | 621 |
| 27 | Wouter | 621 |
| 28 | Cornelis | 618 |
| 29 | Peter | 596 |
| 30 | Erik | 588 |
| 31 | Maarten | 585 |
| 32 | Daniël | 554 |
| 33 | Pieter | 540 |
| 34 | Richard | 494 |
| 35 | Wesley | 483 |
| 36 | Gerrit | 473 |
| 37 | Vincent | 467 |
| 38 | Bas | 454 |
| 39 | Marco | 452 |
| 40 | Nicky | 447 |
| 41 | Paul | 445 |
| 42 | Michel | 435 |
| 43 | Jasper | 433 |
| 44 | Remco | 424 |
| 45 | Joost | 421 |
| 46 | Koen | 418 |
| 47 | Rob | 412 |
| 48 | Mike | 400 |
| 49 | Ruben | 397 |
| 50 | Alexander | 393 |