Ailene vs Ailish

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Ailene Ailish

Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.

Who was ahead

Of the 117 years in which either name was published, Ailene for 98 years and Ailish for 19 years. The lead changed hands 14 times.

• 1900–1992 Ailene ahead
• 1993–1997 Ailish ahead
• 2000–2013 Ailene ahead, apart from 2 short spells
• 2016–2024 Ailish ahead

9 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.

Side by side

A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.

Which name is older

Half of the Ailenes alive today are over 29; half the Ailishes are over 16. That is 13 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Where each one is strongest

• Ailene Kentucky (4.6×), North Carolina (4.6×), California (4.2×)
• Ailish California (4.3×), New York (3.7×)

How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.

Compare something else

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