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Klark vs Klaus

American parents have registered 1,471 Klauses since 1880, against 161 Klarks. Klaus is still ahead, with 63 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Klark against Klaus, 1880 to 2025 0 25 50 75 100 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Klark Klaus

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 71 years in which either name was published, Klaus for 70 years and Klark for 1 year. The lead changed hands 2 times.

Side by side

  Klark Klaus
Total US births 1611,471
Most in one year 2084
Babies in 2025 563
Estimated living today 1601,400
Median age today 813
Peak year 20232022
Best rank 5,927th boys1,875th boys
Rank in 2025 12,008th2,230th
First recorded 19641953
Girls / boys 24 / 1370 / 1,471

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 Klauses alive today are over 13; half the Klarks are over 8. That is 5 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: Klark and Klaus.