Holly vs Holmes
American parents have registered 206,845 Hollys since 1880, against 610 Holmeses. Holly is still ahead, with 751 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Holly 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 136 years in which either name was published, Holly for 132 years and Holmes for 4 years. The lead changed hands 3 times.
Side by side
| Holly | Holmes | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 206,845 | 610 |
| Most in one year | 6,415 | 24 |
| Babies in 2025 | 751 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 191,000 | 130 |
| Median age today | 45 | 72 |
| Peak year | 1983 | 1915 |
| Best rank | 48th girls | 1,372nd boys |
| Rank in 2025 | 416th | unranked |
| First recorded | 1880 | 1880 |
| Girls / boys | 205,304 / 1,541 | 0 / 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 Hollys are over 45. That is 27 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: Holly and Holmes.