Baldwin vs Ballard

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Baldwin Ballard

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 119 years in which either name was published, Ballard for 75 years and Baldwin for 44 years. The lead changed hands 12 times.

• 1880–1957 Ballard ahead
• 1963–1965 Baldwin ahead
• 1969–1972 Ballard ahead
• 1979–2023 Baldwin 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 Ballards alive today are over 71; half the Baldwins are over 31. That is 40 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Compare something else

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