Ailene vs Ailsa

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Ailene Ailsa

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 121 years in which either name was published, Ailene for 103 years and Ailsa for 18 years. The lead changed hands 18 times.

• 1900–1970 Ailene ahead, apart from one short spell
• 1977–1979 Ailsa ahead
• 1980–1985 Ailene ahead
• 1986–1995 Ailsa ahead, apart from one short spell
• 1996–2025 Ailene ahead, apart from one short spell

11 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 Ailsas are over 24. That is 5 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

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