Humanverse

Janace vs Janet

American parents have registered 558,291 Janets since 1880, against 184 Janaces. Janet is still ahead, with 61 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Janace against Janet, 1880 to 2025 0 5k 10k 15k 20k 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Janace Janet

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

Janet has been the commoner name in every year either was published, 1880 to 2025. The lead has never changed hands.

The closest they came was 1970, when Janace had 10 and Janet had 4,168.

Side by side

  Janace Janet
Total US births 184558,291
Most in one year 1418,507
Babies in 2025 under 561
Estimated living today 110364,000
Median age today 7769
Peak year 19471954
Best rank 2,769th girls19th girls
Rank in 2025 unranked2,778th
First recorded 19361880
Girls / boys 184 / 0556,776 / 1,515

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 Janaces alive today are over 77; half the Janets are over 69. That is 8 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: Janace and Janet.