Humanverse

Burnell vs Burrell

American parents have registered 3,383 Burnells since 1880, against 1,475 Burrells. Neither name reached five babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Burnell against Burrell, 1880 to 2025 0 25 50 75 100 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Burnell Burrell

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, Burnell for 98 years and Burrell for 21 years. The lead changed hands 3 times.

Side by side

  Burnell Burrell
Total US births 3,3831,475
Most in one year 8638
Babies in 2025 under 5under 5
Estimated living today 1,200400
Median age today 6767
Peak year 19201919
Best rank 816th boys1,122nd boys
Rank in 2025 unrankedunranked
First recorded 19061881
Girls / boys 593 / 2,7900 / 1,475

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.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

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