Birth year
Born in 1978? Here's your year in charts
In 1978, the top baby names were Jennifer and Michael, unemployment averaged 6.1%, a newborn could expect to live 73.5 years, and the world had 4.28 billion people.
Top baby names of 1978
Girls
Boys
- 1. Michael 67,127 babies, 4.1% of boys
- 2. Jason 51,600 babies, 3.1% of boys
- 3. Christopher 47,236 babies, 2.9% of boys
- 4. David 40,684 babies, 2.5% of boys
- 5. James 39,894 babies, 2.4% of boys
From Social Security card applications for babies born in the U.S.; names given to fewer than 5 babies are left out. Pick a name to see how many babies got it every year since 1880.
1978 then vs. now
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Unemployment rate
See the chart6.1% in 1978, compared with 4.2% in September 2026
Share of the labor force out of work, the year's average.
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Life expectancy at birth
See the chart73.5 years in 1978, compared with 78.7 years in 2018
How long a baby born that year could expect to live, at that year's death rates.
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People in the world
See the chart4.28 billion in 1978, compared with 8.22 billion in 2025
World population at mid-year.
Prices are in dollars of the day, not adjusted for inflation. A figure is left out when its chart doesn't cover 1978.
$100 in 1978 buys about as much as $516.52 in September 2026. Try the inflation calculator
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Sources and dates
- Baby names: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications (national data) (Public domain (U.S. government work)), data as of December 31, 2025
- Unemployment rate: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey (Public domain (U.S. government work)), data as of September 30, 2026
- Life expectancy at birth: CDC National Center for Health Statistics, Death rates and life expectancy at birth (Public domain (U.S. government work)), data as of December 31, 2018
- People in the world: World Bank, World Development Indicators: Population, total (CC BY 4.0 (credit the World Bank)), data as of December 31, 2025