Ardell vs Arden

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Ardell Arden

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 138 years in which either name was published, Arden for 110 years and Ardell for 28 years. The lead changed hands 18 times.

• 1881–1887 Arden ahead
• 1891–1923 Ardell ahead, apart from 3 short spells
• 1927–2025 Arden ahead, apart from one short spell

12 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 Ardells alive today are over 70; half the Ardens are over 15. That is 55 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Where each one is strongest

• Ardell North Dakota (35.5×), Minnesota (16.4×), South Dakota (11.2×)
• Arden Minnesota (2.9×), Wisconsin (2.7×), West Virginia (2.3×)

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

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