Humanverse

Ebenezer vs Eber

American parents have registered 1,328 Ebers since 1880, against 1,249 Ebenezers. But in 2025 it was Ebenezer that was commoner, 52 babies to 15.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Ebenezer against Eber, 1880 to 2025 0 15 30 45 60 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Ebenezer Eber

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 98 years in which either name was published, Eber for 70 years and Ebenezer for 28 years. The lead changed hands 19 times.

11 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.

Side by side

  Ebenezer Eber
Total US births 1,2491,328
Most in one year 5541
Babies in 2025 5215
Estimated living today 1,200920
Median age today 1220
Peak year 20172007
Best rank 2,345th boys2,868th boys
Rank in 2025 2,539th5,861st
First recorded 18841880
Girls / boys 33 / 1,2160 / 1,328

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 Ebers alive today are over 20; half the Ebenezers are over 12. That is 8 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Where each one is strongest

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: Ebenezer and Eber.