Dola vs Dolphus
American parents have registered 1,245 Dolphuses since 1880, against 994 Dolas. Neither name reached five babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Dola Dolphus
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 93 years in which either name was published, Dolphus for 61 years and Dola for 32 years. The lead changed hands 20 times.
- 1880–1889 Dolphus ahead
- 1890–1915 Dola ahead, apart from one short spell
- 1920–1925 Dolphus ahead
- 1926–1928 Dola ahead
- 1929–1978 Dolphus ahead, apart from 4 short spells
11 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Dola | Dolphus | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 994 | 1,245 |
| Most in one year | 35 | 37 |
| Babies in 2025 | under 5 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 180 | 290 |
| Median age today | 78 | 72 |
| Peak year | 1917 | 1930 |
| Best rank | 1,219th girls | 1,151st boys |
| Rank in 2025 | unranked | unranked |
| First recorded | 1886 | 1880 |
| Girls / boys | 994 / 0 | 0 / 1,245 |
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 Dolas alive today are over 78; half the Dolphuses are over 72. 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: Dola and Dolphus.