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Halbert vs Haley

American parents have registered 160,347 Haleys since 1880, against 1,137 Halberts. Haley is still ahead, with 314 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

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

Halbert Haley

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 129 years in which either name was published, Haley for 77 years and Halbert for 52 years. The lead changed hands 9 times.

Side by side

  Halbert Haley
Total US births 1,137160,347
Most in one year 299,100
Babies in 2025 under 5314
Estimated living today 450157,000
Median age today 6526
Peak year 19232000
Best rank 1,358th boys28th girls
Rank in 2025 unranked861st
First recorded 18811890
Girls / boys 0 / 1,137159,511 / 836

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 Halberts alive today are over 65; half the Haleys are over 26. That is 39 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: Halbert and Haley.