Humanverse

Johnniemae vs Johnny

American parents have registered 321,696 Johnnys since 1880, against 9 Johnniemaes. Johnny is still ahead, with 690 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Johnniemae against Johnny, 1880 to 2025 0 2k 4k 6k 8k 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Johnniemae Johnny

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

Johnny 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 Johnniemae had 9 and Johnny had 696.

Side by side

  Johnniemae Johnny
Total US births 9321,696
Most in one year 97,497
Babies in 2025 under 5690
Estimated living today 0216,000
Median age today 10658
Peak year 19191947
Best rank 3,219th girls49th boys
Rank in 2025 unranked457th
First recorded 19191880
Girls / boys 9 / 03,778 / 317,918

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 Johnnys are over 58. That is 48 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: Johnniemae and Johnny.