Humanverse

Burns vs Burt

American parents have registered 6,555 Burts since 1880, against 584 Burnses. Neither name reached five babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Burns against Burt, 1880 to 2025 0 40 80 120 160 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Burns Burt

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, Burt for 122 years and Burns for 1 year. The lead changed hands 2 times.

Side by side

  Burns Burt
Total US births 5846,555
Most in one year 30152
Babies in 2025 under 5under 5
Estimated living today 1303,000
Median age today 7363
Peak year 19201956
Best rank 1,323rd boys615th boys
Rank in 2025 unrankedunranked
First recorded 18861880
Girls / boys 0 / 5840 / 6,555

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 Burnses alive today are over 73; half the Burts are over 63. That is 10 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: Burns and Burt.