Humanverse

Gena vs Genavieve

American parents have registered 12,824 Genas since 1880, against 848 Genavieves. But in 2025 it was Genavieve that was commoner, 6 babies to fewer than five.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Gena against Genavieve, 1880 to 2025 0 150 300 450 600 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Gena Genavieve

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 145 years in which either name was published, Gena for 123 years and Genavieve for 22 years. The lead changed hands once.

Side by side

  Gena Genavieve
Total US births 12,824848
Most in one year 50249
Babies in 2025 under 56
Estimated living today 11,000840
Median age today 5417
Peak year 19682011
Best rank 420th girls3,303rd girls
Rank in 2025 unranked13,208th
First recorded 18801984
Girls / boys 12,824 / 0848 / 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 Genas alive today are over 54; half the Genavieves are over 17. That is 37 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: Gena and Genavieve.