Most popular boys’ names in Ireland, 1978
The official ranking as published, with the number of babies given each name. Names with the same count share a rank.
| Rank | Name | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | John | 2,280 |
| 2 | David | 1,637 |
| 3 | Paul | 1,343 |
| 4 | Michael | 1,327 |
| 5 | Patrick | 1,166 |
| 6 | James | 949 |
| 7 | Mark | 919 |
| 8 | Brian | 857 |
| 9 | Thomas | 811 |
| 10 | Stephen | 710 |
| 11 | Alan | 674 |
| 12 | Robert | 555 |
| 13 | Martin | 536 |
| 14 | Kevin | 496 |
| 15 | Anthony | 484 |
| 16 | William | 458 |
| 17 | Gerard | 415 |
| 18 | Shane | 413 |
| 19 | Peter | 409 |
| 20 | Barry | 407 |
| 21 | Brendan | 393 |
| 22 | Keith | 381 |
| 23 | Joseph | 374 |
| 24 | Andrew | 366 |
| 25 | Niall | 362 |