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Gunars vs Gunther

American parents have registered 1,098 Gunthers since 1880, against 13 Gunarses. Gunther is still ahead, with 17 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Gunars against Gunther, 1880 to 2025 0 8 16 24 32 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Gunars Gunther

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 84 years in which either name was published, Gunther for 82 years and Gunars for 2 years. The lead changed hands 4 times.

Side by side

  Gunars Gunther
Total US births 131,098
Most in one year 832
Babies in 2025 under 517
Estimated living today 8920
Median age today 7326
Peak year 19521995
Best rank 2,875th boys2,400th boys
Rank in 2025 unranked5,399th
First recorded 19521924
Girls / boys 0 / 130 / 1,098

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 Gunarses alive today are over 73; half the Gunthers are over 26. That is 47 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: Gunars and Gunther.