Fonnie vs Fontella
American parents have registered 589 Fontellas since 1880, against 186 Fonnies. Neither name reached five babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Fonnie Fontella
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 63 years in which either name was published, Fontella for 46 years and Fonnie for 17 years. The lead changed hands 20 times.
- 1900–1907 Fontella ahead
- 1908–1912 Fonnie ahead
- 1913–1915 Fontella ahead
- 1916–1919 Fonnie ahead
- 1927–1990 Fontella ahead, apart from one short spell
15 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Fonnie | Fontella | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 186 | 589 |
| Most in one year | 14 | 104 |
| Babies in 2025 | under 5 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 20 | 340 |
| Median age today | 84 | 59 |
| Peak year | 1918 | 1966 |
| Best rank | 2,822nd girls | 1,011th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | unranked | unranked |
| First recorded | 1908 | 1900 |
| Girls / boys | 147 / 39 | 589 / 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 Fonnies alive today are over 84; half the Fontellas are over 59. That is 25 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: Fonnie and Fontella.