Humanverse

Burnice vs Burns

American parents have registered 2,926 Burnices since 1880, against 584 Burnses. Neither name reached five babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Burnice against Burns, 1880 to 2025 0 30 60 90 120 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Burnice Burns

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 85 years in which either name was published, Burnice for 80 years and Burns for 5 years. The lead changed hands 6 times.

Side by side

  Burnice Burns
Total US births 2,926584
Most in one year 10530
Babies in 2025 under 5under 5
Estimated living today 600130
Median age today 7673
Peak year 19251920
Best rank 905th girls1,323rd boys
Rank in 2025 unrankedunranked
First recorded 18931886
Girls / boys 1,593 / 1,3330 / 584

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 Burnices alive today are over 76; half the Burnses are over 73. That is 3 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: Burnice and Burns.