Kermit vs Kerwin
American parents have registered 16,472 Kermits since 1880, against 2,470 Kerwins. Kermit is still ahead, with 6 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Kermit Kerwin
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 126 years in which either name was published, Kermit for 93 years and Kerwin for 33 years. The lead changed hands 14 times.
- 1900–1985 Kermit ahead, apart from one short spell
- 1988–1992 Kerwin ahead
- 1993–1995 Kermit ahead
- 1996–2021 Kerwin ahead, apart from 2 short spells
8 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Kermit | Kerwin | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 16,472 | 2,470 |
| Most in one year | 431 | 89 |
| Babies in 2025 | 6 | 5 |
| Estimated living today | 5,500 | 2,000 |
| Median age today | 67 | 49 |
| Peak year | 1919 | 1959 |
| Best rank | 256th boys | 808th boys |
| Rank in 2025 | 10,695th | 12,008th |
| First recorded | 1900 | 1913 |
| Girls / boys | 27 / 16,445 | 0 / 2,470 |
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 Kermits alive today are over 67; half the Kerwins are over 49. That is 18 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Kermit West Virginia (7.6×), North Dakota (5.2×), Minnesota (3.2×)
- Kerwin Louisiana (8.9×), New York (3.3×), Texas (2.2×)
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Kermit and Kerwin.