Humanverse

Eila vs Eileene

American parents have registered 1,906 Eilas since 1880, against 548 Eileenes. Eila is still ahead, with 113 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Eila against Eileene, 1880 to 2025 0 40 80 120 160 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Eila Eileene

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 75 years in which either name was published, Eileene for 43 years and Eila for 32 years. The lead changed hands 11 times.

Side by side

  Eila Eileene
Total US births 1,906548
Most in one year 15631
Babies in 2025 113under 5
Estimated living today 1,700150
Median age today 674
Peak year 20201925
Best rank 1,398th girls1,466th girls
Rank in 2025 1,777thunranked
First recorded 19121911
Girls / boys 1,906 / 0548 / 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 Eileenes alive today are over 74; half the Eilas are over 6. That is 68 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: Eila and Eileene.