Canaan vs Candelaria
American parents have registered 6,167 Canaans since 1880, against 2,558 Candelarias. Canaan is still ahead, with 218 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Canaan Candelaria
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 125 years in which either name was published, Candelaria for 83 years and Canaan for 42 years. The lead changed hands 5 times.
- 1893–1976 Candelaria ahead
- 1977 Canaan ahead
- 1978–1982 Candelaria ahead
- 1983–1984 Canaan ahead
- 1985–1986 Candelaria ahead
- 1987–2025 Canaan ahead
Side by side
| Canaan | Candelaria | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 6,167 | 2,558 |
| Most in one year | 385 | 49 |
| Babies in 2025 | 218 | 28 |
| Estimated living today | 6,100 | 1,700 |
| Median age today | 11 | 33 |
| Peak year | 2016 | 1929 |
| Best rank | 669th boys | 1,042nd girls |
| Rank in 2025 | 1,044th | 4,758th |
| First recorded | 1973 | 1893 |
| Girls / boys | 324 / 5,843 | 2,558 / 0 |
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 Candelarias alive today are over 33; half the Canaans are over 11. That is 22 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Canaan Tennessee (4.3×), Kentucky (3.0×), Alabama (2.9×)
- Candelaria New Mexico (10.7×), Texas (7.1×), California (3.4×)
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Canaan and Candelaria.