Humanverse

Greg vs Grettel

American parents have registered 77,849 Gregs since 1880, against 1,089 Grettels. But in 2025 it was Grettel that was commoner, 38 babies to 21.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Greg against Grettel, 1880 to 2025 0 1.5k 3k 4.5k 6k 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Greg Grettel

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 104 years in which either name was published, Greg for 91 years and Grettel for 13 years. The lead changed hands 3 times.

Side by side

  Greg Grettel
Total US births 77,8491,089
Most in one year 5,40994
Babies in 2025 2138
Estimated living today 61,0001,100
Median age today 627
Peak year 19612018
Best rank 77th boys2,059th girls
Rank in 2025 4,707th3,832nd
First recorded 19151993
Girls / boys 143 / 77,7061,089 / 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 Gregs alive today are over 62; half the Grettels are over 7. That is 55 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: Greg and Grettel.