The most popular names recorded in 1997 were Sanne for girls and Thomas for boys. Full top-50 lists below, from Meertens NVB data.
| # | Name | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sanne | 1,001 |
| 2 | Laura | 999 |
| 3 | Lisa | 963 |
| 4 | Anne | 928 |
| 5 | Iris | 855 |
| 6 | Kim | 802 |
| 7 | Demi | 788 |
| 8 | Amber | 672 |
| 9 | Melissa | 641 |
| 10 | Romy | 636 |
| 11 | Lotte | 624 |
| 12 | Anna | 620 |
| 13 | Anouk | 613 |
| 14 | Michelle | 611 |
| 15 | Daphne | 600 |
| 16 | Naomi | 586 |
| 17 | Julia | 568 |
| 18 | Eva | 557 |
| 19 | Maria | 541 |
| 20 | Femke | 522 |
| 21 | Tessa | 522 |
| 22 | Eline | 497 |
| 23 | Johanna | 481 |
| 24 | Emma | 468 |
| 25 | Lisanne | 465 |
| 26 | Charlotte | 440 |
| 27 | Britt | 438 |
| 28 | Denise | 435 |
| 29 | Celine | 432 |
| 30 | Sophie | 419 |
| 31 | Merel | 415 |
| 32 | Kelly | 413 |
| 33 | Daniëlle | 412 |
| 34 | Esmée | 409 |
| 35 | Maaike | 394 |
| 36 | Manon | 394 |
| 37 | Vera | 373 |
| 38 | Sharon | 360 |
| 39 | Nina | 359 |
| 40 | Robin | 355 |
| 41 | Melanie | 352 |
| 42 | Esther | 351 |
| 43 | Fleur | 346 |
| 44 | Danique | 341 |
| 45 | Sarah | 337 |
| 46 | Mandy | 330 |
| 47 | Chantal | 320 |
| 48 | Nienke | 318 |
| 49 | Ilse | 309 |
| 50 | Elisabeth | 303 |
| # | Name | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thomas | 1,135 |
| 2 | Tim | 1,063 |
| 3 | Kevin | 973 |
| 4 | Rick | 841 |
| 5 | Nick | 787 |
| 6 | Mike | 785 |
| 7 | Niels | 768 |
| 8 | Tom | 766 |
| 9 | Lars | 759 |
| 10 | Max | 752 |
| 11 | Jeroen | 748 |
| 12 | Robin | 745 |
| 13 | Jan | 744 |
| 14 | Daniël | 709 |
| 15 | Dennis | 704 |
| 16 | Johannes | 689 |
| 17 | Jesse | 687 |
| 18 | Martijn | 658 |
| 19 | Daan | 656 |
| 20 | Bas | 646 |
| 21 | Bart | 644 |
| 22 | Sander | 644 |
| 23 | Ruben | 638 |
| 24 | Bram | 617 |
| 25 | Jelle | 609 |
| 26 | Koen | 581 |
| 27 | Jordy | 551 |
| 28 | Wouter | 547 |
| 29 | Jasper | 535 |
| 30 | Mark | 509 |
| 31 | Willem | 494 |
| 32 | Stefan | 483 |
| 33 | Jeffrey | 479 |
| 34 | Luuk | 471 |
| 35 | David | 467 |
| 36 | Thijs | 466 |
| 37 | Roy | 451 |
| 38 | Stijn | 448 |
| 39 | Dylan | 444 |
| 40 | Justin | 435 |
| 41 | Sven | 433 |
| 42 | Pieter | 429 |
| 43 | Joey | 428 |
| 44 | Cornelis | 423 |
| 45 | Wesley | 416 |
| 46 | Hendrik | 412 |
| 47 | Stan | 399 |
| 48 | Maarten | 387 |
| 49 | Michael | 381 |
| 50 | Danny | 378 |