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Grafton vs Grayson

American parents have registered 133,184 Graysons since 1880, against 1,080 Graftons. Grayson is still ahead, with 5,857 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Grafton against Grayson, 1880 to 2025 0 2.5k 5k 7.5k 10k 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Grafton Grayson

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 122 years in which either name was published, Grayson for 116 years and Grafton for 6 years. The lead changed hands 7 times.

Side by side

  Grafton Grayson
Total US births 1,080133,184
Most in one year 258,850
Babies in 2025 95,857
Estimated living today 570131,000
Median age today 278
Peak year 19162017
Best rank 1,374th boys34th boys
Rank in 2025 8,243rd51st
First recorded 18861905
Girls / boys 0 / 1,0804,190 / 128,994

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 Graftons alive today are over 27; half the Graysons are over 8. That is 19 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: Grafton and Grayson.