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Larence vs Larry

American parents have registered 811,148 Larrys since 1880, against 1,096 Larences. Larry is still ahead, with 198 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Larence against Larry, 1880 to 2025 0 10k 20k 30k 40k 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Larence Larry

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

Larry 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 1886, when Larence had 5 and Larry had 23.

Side by side

  Larence Larry
Total US births 1,096811,148
Most in one year 3735,027
Babies in 2025 under 5198
Estimated living today 330499,000
Median age today 6969
Peak year 19271947
Best rank 1,178th boys10th boys
Rank in 2025 unranked1,084th
First recorded 18861880
Girls / boys 0 / 1,0963,560 / 807,588

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.

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Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Larence and Larry.