Humanverse

Arlando vs Arlene

American parents have registered 143,371 Arlenes since 1880, against 568 Arlandos. Arlene is still ahead, with 127 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Arlando against Arlene, 1880 to 2025 0 1k 2k 3k 4k 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Arlando Arlene

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

Arlene has been the commoner name in every year either was published, 1888 to 2025. The lead has never changed hands.

The closest they came was 2022, when Arlando had 9 and Arlene had 119.

Side by side

  Arlando Arlene
Total US births 568143,371
Most in one year 303,930
Babies in 2025 5127
Estimated living today 53068,000
Median age today 3871
Peak year 19751934
Best rank 1,658th boys53rd girls
Rank in 2025 12,008th1,631st
First recorded 19131888
Girls / boys 0 / 568143,010 / 361

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 Arlenes alive today are over 71; half the Arlandos are over 38. That is 33 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Arlando and Arlene.