Bascom vs Basel
American parents have registered 731 Bascoms since 1880, against 552 Basels. But in 2025 it was Basel that was commoner, 11 babies to fewer than five.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Bascom Basel
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 102 years in which either name was published, Bascom for 61 years and Basel for 41 years. The lead changed hands 3 times.
Side by side
| Bascom | Basel | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 731 | 552 |
| Most in one year | 28 | 21 |
| Babies in 2025 | under 5 | 11 |
| Estimated living today | 100 | 440 |
| Median age today | 78 | 18 |
| Peak year | 1916 | 2000 |
| Best rank | 1,265th boys | 3,764th boys |
| Rank in 2025 | unranked | 7,194th |
| First recorded | 1882 | 1914 |
| Girls / boys | 0 / 731 | 0 / 552 |
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 Bascoms alive today are over 78; half the Basels are over 18. That is 60 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: Bascom and Basel.