Horatio vs Hortencia
American parents have registered 3,969 Hortencias since 1880, against 1,443 Horatios. But in 2025 it was Horatio that was commoner, 6 babies to 6.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Horatio Hortencia
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, Hortencia for 95 years and Horatio for 41 years. The lead changed hands 14 times.
- 1880–1900 Horatio ahead
- 1907–2002 Hortencia ahead, apart from 3 short spells
- 2003–2022 Horatio ahead, apart from one short spell
8 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Horatio | Hortencia | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 1,443 | 3,969 |
| Most in one year | 40 | 82 |
| Babies in 2025 | 6 | 6 |
| Estimated living today | 880 | 2,100 |
| Median age today | 36 | 63 |
| Peak year | 2007 | 1925 |
| Best rank | 2,920th boys | 819th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | 10,695th | 13,208th |
| First recorded | 1880 | 1902 |
| Girls / boys | 0 / 1,443 | 3,969 / 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 Hortencias alive today are over 63; half the Horatios are over 36. That is 27 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Horatio and Hortencia.