Humanverse

Holland vs Holmes

American parents have registered 11,007 Hollands since 1880, against 610 Holmeses. Holland is still ahead, with 686 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Holland against Holmes, 1880 to 2025 0 200 400 600 800 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Holland Holmes

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 127 years in which either name was published, Holland for 123 years and Holmes for 4 years. The lead changed hands 3 times.

Side by side

  Holland Holmes
Total US births 11,007610
Most in one year 68624
Babies in 2025 686under 5
Estimated living today 9,900130
Median age today 972
Peak year 20251915
Best rank 549th girls1,372nd boys
Rank in 2025 549thunranked
First recorded 18881880
Girls / boys 7,835 / 3,1720 / 610

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 Holmeses alive today are over 72; half the Hollands are over 9. That is 63 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: Holland and Holmes.