Hoy vs Hoyle

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Hoy Hoyle

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 70 years in which either name was published, Hoyle for 42 years and Hoy for 28 years. The lead changed hands 18 times.

• 1880–1906 Hoy ahead
• 1916–1950 Hoyle ahead, apart from 2 short spells
• 1957–1976 Hoy ahead, apart from one short spell

13 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.

Side by side

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 Hoyles alive today are over 76; half the Hoys are over 71. That is 5 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Where each one is strongest

• Hoy West Virginia (60.4×), Kentucky (20.7×)
• Hoyle North Carolina (30.0×), Tennessee (3.6×)

How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

• Hoy vs Hoyt
• Hoyle vs Hoyt