Humanverse

China vs Chipper

American parents have registered 4,618 Chinas since 1880, against 458 Chippers. But in 2025 it was Chipper that was commoner, 12 babies to 8.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: China against Chipper, 1880 to 2025 0 80 160 240 320 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

China Chipper

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, China for 105 years and Chipper for 14 years. The lead changed hands 9 times.

Side by side

  China Chipper
Total US births 4,618458
Most in one year 24524
Babies in 2025 812
Estimated living today 4,200410
Median age today 3120
Peak year 19922021
Best rank 816th girls4,247th boys
Rank in 2025 10,917th6,803rd
First recorded 18851945
Girls / boys 4,608 / 100 / 458

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 Chinas alive today are over 31; half the Chippers are over 20. That is 11 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: China and Chipper.