Humanverse

Elsworth vs Elsy

American parents have registered 1,832 Elsys since 1880, against 829 Elsworths. Elsy is still ahead, with 78 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

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

Elsworth Elsy

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 112 years in which either name was published, Elsworth for 61 years and Elsy for 51 years. The lead changed hands 3 times.

Side by side

  Elsworth Elsy
Total US births 8291,832
Most in one year 40135
Babies in 2025 under 578
Estimated living today 1201,800
Median age today 7413
Peak year 19172020
Best rank 1,033rd boys1,559th girls
Rank in 2025 unranked2,326th
First recorded 18811969
Girls / boys 0 / 8291,832 / 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 Elsworths alive today are over 74; half the Elsys are over 13. That is 61 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: Elsworth and Elsy.