Humanverse

Jerldine vs Jerome

American parents have registered 162,296 Jeromes since 1880, against 53 Jerldines. Jerome is still ahead, with 158 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Jerldine against Jerome, 1880 to 2025 0 800 1.6k 2.4k 3.2k 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Jerldine Jerome

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

Jerome 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 1924, when Jerldine had 9 and Jerome had 1,594.

Side by side

  Jerldine Jerome
Total US births 53162,296
Most in one year 93,129
Babies in 2025 under 5158
Estimated living today 1392,000
Median age today 8759
Peak year 19241954
Best rank 3,393rd girls114th boys
Rank in 2025 unranked1,256th
First recorded 19241880
Girls / boys 53 / 01,062 / 161,234

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 Jerldines alive today are over 87; half the Jeromes are over 59. That is 28 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: Jerldine and Jerome.