Humanverse

Ladd vs Laddie

American parents have registered 1,736 Laddies since 1880, against 1,329 Ladds. But in 2025 it was Ladd that was commoner, 26 babies to fewer than five.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Ladd against Laddie, 1880 to 2025 0 15 30 45 60 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Ladd Laddie

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 113 years in which either name was published, Ladd for 67 years and Laddie for 46 years. The lead changed hands 3 times.

Side by side

  Ladd Laddie
Total US births 1,3291,736
Most in one year 3852
Babies in 2025 26under 5
Estimated living today 1,000470
Median age today 4872
Peak year 19611919
Best rank 1,279th boys989th boys
Rank in 2025 4,050thunranked
First recorded 19151902
Girls / boys 0 / 1,32992 / 1,644

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 Laddies alive today are over 72; half the Ladds are over 48. That is 24 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: Ladd and Laddie.