Humanverse

Johnie vs Johnniemae

American parents have registered 26,074 Johnies since 1880, against 9 Johnniemaes. Johnie is still ahead, with 15 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Johnie against Johnniemae, 1880 to 2025 0 250 500 750 1k 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Johnie Johnniemae

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

Johnie 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 1919, when Johnie had 826 and Johnniemae had 9.

Side by side

  Johnie Johnniemae
Total US births 26,0749
Most in one year 8549
Babies in 2025 15under 5
Estimated living today 4,9000
Median age today 69106
Peak year 19201919
Best rank 190th boys3,219th girls
Rank in 2025 7,679thunranked
First recorded 18801919
Girls / boys 5,144 / 20,9309 / 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 Johnniemaes alive today are over 106; half the Johnies are over 69. That is 37 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: Johnie and Johnniemae.