How does the comparison work?

How is "more popular" decided?

The comparison shows each name's current SSA rank and its all-time total births. A lower rank means more babies received the name in the latest year; a higher total means more babies received it across all years on record.

Can I compare a boys' name with a girls' name?

Yes. Each name is matched to its most-recorded sex, so you can put any two names side by side, including a unisex name against a single-sex one.

Where do the numbers come from?

Every figure is read live from the Social Security Administration national baby-name files (1880–2025) at the moment you run the comparison.

What to do with this comparison

  • Enter two names above to see current rank, total births, and peak year side by side.
  • Not sure which two to pick? Browse names by popularity tier. Name Finder
  • Looking for one specific name instead? Name Lookup

All figures are read live from the SSA national files at the moment you run the comparison; nothing is cached or precomputed.

According to the Social Security Administration, as of June 2026 this tool reads the agency's public-use baby-name files directly, which document 105,966 distinct names spanning 1880-2025.

Name Almanac is rendered directly from the Social Security Administration's public baby-name files, no number is typed in by an editor. This Compare Names tool queries the SSA baby-name database live, no result is precomputed or typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.