Dace vs Dacey
American parents have registered 648 Daceys since 1880, against 542 Daces. But in 2025 it was Dace that was commoner, 16 babies to fewer than five.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Dace Dacey
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 55 years in which either name was published, Dace for 28 years and Dacey for 27 years. The lead changed hands 12 times.
- 1953–1983 Dace ahead, apart from one short spell
- 1987–2010 Dacey ahead, apart from one short spell
- 2015–2025 Dace ahead, apart from one short spell
7 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Dace | Dacey | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 542 | 648 |
| Most in one year | 23 | 39 |
| Babies in 2025 | 16 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 520 | 640 |
| Median age today | 17 | 23 |
| Peak year | 2011 | 2002 |
| Best rank | 4,221st boys | 3,461st girls |
| Rank in 2025 | 5,608th | unranked |
| First recorded | 1953 | 1974 |
| Girls / boys | 18 / 524 | 648 / 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 Daceys alive today are over 23; half the Daces are over 17. That is 6 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: Dace and Dacey.