Humanverse

December vs Declyn

American parents have registered 1,619 Decembers since 1880, against 768 Declyns. But in 2025 it was Declyn that was commoner, 39 babies to 21.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: December against Declyn, 1880 to 2025 0 20 40 60 80 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

December Declyn

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 64 years in which either name was published, December for 51 years and Declyn for 13 years. The lead changed hands once.

Side by side

  December Declyn
Total US births 1,619768
Most in one year 4670
Babies in 2025 2139
Estimated living today 1,600760
Median age today 237
Peak year 20122016
Best rank 3,464th girls2,885th boys
Rank in 2025 5,722nd4,539th
First recorded 19602004
Girls / boys 1,608 / 11307 / 461

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 Decembers alive today are over 23; half the Declyns are over 7. That is 16 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: December and Declyn.