Humanverse

Larnell vs Larry

American parents have registered 811,148 Larrys since 1880, against 887 Larnells. Larry is still ahead, with 198 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

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

Larnell 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 2017, when Larnell had 8 and Larry had 413.

Side by side

  Larnell Larry
Total US births 887811,148
Most in one year 2635,027
Babies in 2025 under 5198
Estimated living today 700499,000
Median age today 4669
Peak year 19901947
Best rank 2,553rd boys10th boys
Rank in 2025 unranked1,084th
First recorded 19181880
Girls / boys 5 / 8823,560 / 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.

Which name is older

Half of the Larrys alive today are over 69; half the Larnells are over 46. That is 23 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: Larnell and Larry.