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Burl vs Burr

American parents have registered 7,200 Burls since 1880, against 803 Burrs. Neither name reached five babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Burl against Burr, 1880 to 2025 0 60 120 180 240 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Burl Burr

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 123 years in which either name was published, Burl for 122 years and Burr for 1 year. The lead changed hands 2 times.

Side by side

  Burl Burr
Total US births 7,200803
Most in one year 21123
Babies in 2025 under 5under 5
Estimated living today 2,000170
Median age today 6971
Peak year 19211916
Best rank 418th boys1,459th boys
Rank in 2025 unrankedunranked
First recorded 18801880
Girls / boys 19 / 7,1810 / 803

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 Burrs alive today are over 71; half the Burls are over 69. That is 2 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: Burl and Burr.