Ethan vs Ether
American parents have registered 488,144 Ethans since 1880, against 1,285 Ethers. Ethan is still ahead, with 7,859 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Ethan Ether
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 142 years in which either name was published, Ethan for 98 years and Ether for 44 years. The lead changed hands 20 times.
15 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Ethan | Ether | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 488,144 | 1,285 |
| Most in one year | 22,336 | 49 |
| Babies in 2025 | 7,859 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 479,000 | 190 |
| Median age today | 18 | 80 |
| Peak year | 2004 | 1921 |
| Best rank | 5th boys | 1,092nd girls |
| Rank in 2025 | 24th | unranked |
| First recorded | 1882 | 1883 |
| Girls / boys | 755 / 487,389 | 1,214 / 71 |
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 Ethers alive today are over 80; half the Ethans are over 18. That is 62 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Ethan Nevada (2.1×), Alaska (1.8×), Utah (1.7×)
- Ether Mississippi (48.3×), Alabama (6.5×), Georgia (3.6×)
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: Ethan and Ether.