Humanverse

Hannah vs Hannaley

American parents have registered 466,406 Hannahs since 1880, against 21 Hannaleys. Hannah is still ahead, with 3,973 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Hannah against Hannaley, 1880 to 2025 0 6k 12k 18k 24k 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Hannah Hannaley

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

Hannah has been the commoner name in every year either was published, 1880 to 2025. The lead has never changed hands.

The closest they came was 2014, when Hannah had 6,598 and Hannaley had 21.

Side by side

  Hannah Hannaley
Total US births 466,40621
Most in one year 23,11221
Babies in 2025 3,973under 5
Estimated living today 441,00020
Median age today 2411
Peak year 20002014
Best rank 2nd girls5,993rd girls
Rank in 2025 56thunranked
First recorded 18802014
Girls / boys 465,685 / 72121 / 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 Hannahs alive today are over 24; half the Hannaleys are over 11. That is 13 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: Hannah and Hannaley.