Humanverse

Larry vs Larwence

American parents have registered 811,148 Larrys since 1880, against 394 Larwences. Larry is still ahead, with 198 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

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

Larry Larwence

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 1927, when Larry had 836 and Larwence had 9.

Side by side

  Larry Larwence
Total US births 811,148394
Most in one year 35,02726
Babies in 2025 198under 5
Estimated living today 499,000240
Median age today 6971
Peak year 19471955
Best rank 10th boys1,503rd boys
Rank in 2025 1,084thunranked
First recorded 18801927
Girls / boys 3,560 / 807,5880 / 394

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 Larwences alive today are over 71; half the Larrys are over 69. That is 2 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: Larry and Larwence.