Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1978

In this article we'll look at what the most popular baby girl names are since 1978. These names are taken directly from the Social Security card applications for births that occurred in the United States.

The table below shows the top 50 most popular baby girl names since 1978, with a total count for the number of births registered with that given name since 1978.

Rank Name Count
1 Jessica 936,766
2 Ashley 835,624
3 Jennifer 782,006
4 Emily 739,051
5 Sarah 714,795
6 Amanda 672,244
7 Elizabeth 648,254
8 Samantha 550,156
9 Emma 476,604
10 Olivia 468,101
11 Stephanie 467,575
12 Nicole 462,321
13 Lauren 436,293
14 Hannah 422,758
15 Melissa 418,876
16 Rachel 407,725
17 Megan 407,295
18 Madison 399,275
19 Abigail 379,815
20 Isabella 362,433
21 Sophia 361,812
22 Brittany 357,149
23 Victoria 341,633
24 Michelle 341,231
25 Kayla 338,778
26 Rebecca 337,639
27 Kimberly 337,445
28 Amber 336,181
29 Alexis 332,368
30 Taylor 325,315
31 Heather 323,841
32 Katherine 313,362
33 Danielle 308,413
34 Alyssa 305,266
35 Amy 298,038
36 Natalie 297,827
37 Anna 292,649
38 Ava 291,854
39 Christina 291,179
40 Tiffany 281,092
41 Mary 268,180
42 Andrea 264,113
43 Sara 262,142
44 Laura 262,040
45 Allison 260,212
46 Brianna 257,323
47 Mia 256,062
48 Angela 251,747
49 Jasmine 249,067
50 Erin 247,921

More Popular Baby Names

You can also use the links below to research more about the most popular baby names.

Top 1000 most popular boy names: 1-250 | 251-500 | 501-750 | 751-1000

Top 1000 most popular girl names: 1-250 | 251-500 | 501-750 | 751-1000

Historical Data for Baby Names

If you're interested to see how the trends and popularity of baby names have changed, you can use the links below to view the historical data by decade.

Most popular first names, 1880-present | since 1950 | since 1960 | since 1970 | since 1980 | since 1990 | since 2000 | since 2010

Most popular boy names, 1880-present | since 1950 | since 1960 | since 1970 | since 1980 | since 1990 | since 2000 | since 2010

Most popular girl names, 1880-present | since 1950 | since 1960 | since 1970 | since 1980 | since 1990 | since 2000 | since 2010

Data Source(s)

All of the data on this page is sourced from the Social Security Administration (SSA) and excludes any names with fewer than 5 occurrences in any geographic area.

Link To or Reference This Page

We spent a lot of time downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!

  • "Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1978". NameCensus.com. Accessed on March 29, 2023. https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-girl-names-since-1978/.

  • "Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1978". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-girl-names-since-1978/. Accessed 29 March, 2023

  • Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1978. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-girl-names-since-1978/.