Ladell vs Lady
American parents have registered 2,068 Ladys since 1880, against 1,456 Ladells. Lady is still ahead, with 20 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Ladell Lady
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 139 years in which either name was published, Lady for 83 years and Ladell for 56 years. The lead changed hands 22 times.
- 1884–1937 Lady ahead, apart from one short spell
- 1940–1995 Ladell ahead, apart from 3 short spells
- 1999–2025 Lady ahead
16 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Ladell | Lady | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 1,456 | 2,068 |
| Most in one year | 26 | 48 |
| Babies in 2025 | under 5 | 20 |
| Estimated living today | 970 | 1,100 |
| Median age today | 49 | 28 |
| Peak year | 1969 | 2016 |
| Best rank | 1,861st boys | 3,326th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | unranked | 5,917th |
| First recorded | 1913 | 1884 |
| Girls / boys | 433 / 1,023 | 2,068 / 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 Ladells alive today are over 49; half the Ladys are over 28. That is 21 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
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: Ladell and Lady.