Author vs Autry
American parents have registered 2,173 Authors since 1880, against 1,461 Autrys. But in 2025 it was Autry that was commoner, 5 babies to fewer than five.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Author Autry
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 129 years in which either name was published, Author for 78 years and Autry for 51 years. The lead changed hands 13 times.
- 1880–1937 Author ahead
- 1938–1941 Autry ahead
- 1942–1964 Author ahead, apart from one short spell
- 1965–1972 Autry ahead, apart from one short spell
- 1974–1977 Author ahead
- 1978–1990 Autry ahead
- 1991–1993 Author ahead
- 1995–2025 Autry ahead
4 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Author | Autry | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 2,173 | 1,461 |
| Most in one year | 59 | 68 |
| Babies in 2025 | under 5 | 5 |
| Estimated living today | 640 | 800 |
| Median age today | 72 | 54 |
| Peak year | 1933 | 1938 |
| Best rank | 799th boys | 816th boys |
| Rank in 2025 | unranked | 12,008th |
| First recorded | 1880 | 1913 |
| Girls / boys | 0 / 2,173 | 243 / 1,218 |
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 Authors alive today are over 72; half the Autrys are over 54. That is 18 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Author and Autry.