Gaylen vs Gaynell
American parents have registered 4,269 Gaynells since 1880, against 2,373 Gaylens. Neither name reached five babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Gaylen Gaynell
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 107 years in which either name was published, Gaynell for 81 years and Gaylen for 26 years. The lead changed hands 15 times.
- 1886–1964 Gaynell ahead, apart from one short spell
- 1968–1970 Gaylen ahead
- 1971–1973 Gaynell ahead
- 1974–2005 Gaylen ahead, apart from 3 short spells
8 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Gaylen | Gaynell | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 2,373 | 4,269 |
| Most in one year | 104 | 117 |
| Babies in 2025 | under 5 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 1,400 | 2,000 |
| Median age today | 68 | 72 |
| Peak year | 1949 | 1952 |
| Best rank | 707th boys | 849th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | unranked | unranked |
| First recorded | 1915 | 1886 |
| Girls / boys | 348 / 2,025 | 4,251 / 18 |
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 Gaynells alive today are over 72; half the Gaylens are over 68. That is 4 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Gaylen Iowa (23.7×), Utah (22.3×), Nebraska (13.0×)
- Gaynell Louisiana (16.3×), Alabama (8.2×), Virginia (4.8×)
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: Gaylen and Gaynell.