Humanverse

Ivor vs Ivorie

American parents have registered 909 Ivors since 1880, against 477 Ivories. But in 2025 it was Ivorie that was commoner, 32 babies to 10.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Ivor against Ivorie, 1880 to 2025 0 8 16 24 32 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Ivor Ivorie

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 107 years in which either name was published, Ivor for 72 years and Ivorie for 35 years. The lead changed hands 7 times.

Side by side

  Ivor Ivorie
Total US births 909477
Most in one year 2932
Babies in 2025 1032
Estimated living today 420470
Median age today 4111
Peak year 19182025
Best rank 1,596th boys4,352nd girls
Rank in 2025 7,679th4,352nd
First recorded 18961982
Girls / boys 46 / 863477 / 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 Ivors alive today are over 41; half the Ivories are over 11. That is 30 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: Ivor and Ivorie.