Humanverse

Erlinda vs Erling

American parents have registered 4,656 Erlindas since 1880, against 1,402 Erlings. But in 2025 it was Erling that was commoner, 24 babies to fewer than five.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Erlinda against Erling, 1880 to 2025 0 50 100 150 200 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Erlinda Erling

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 119 years in which either name was published, Erlinda for 104 years and Erling for 15 years. The lead changed hands 5 times.

Side by side

  Erlinda Erling
Total US births 4,6561,402
Most in one year 17154
Babies in 2025 under 524
Estimated living today 2,900380
Median age today 6760
Peak year 19492023
Best rank 632nd girls2,480th boys
Rank in 2025 unranked4,249th
First recorded 19001908
Girls / boys 4,656 / 00 / 1,402

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 Erlindas alive today are over 67; half the Erlings are over 60. That is 7 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: Erlinda and Erling.