Laverne vs Lavona
American parents have registered 56,124 Lavernes since 1880, against 1,796 Lavonas. Laverne is still ahead, with 9 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Laverne Lavona
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 137 years in which either name was published, Laverne for 136 years and Lavona for 1 year. The lead changed hands 2 times.
Side by side
| Laverne | Lavona | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 56,124 | 1,796 |
| Most in one year | 1,785 | 52 |
| Babies in 2025 | 9 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 17,000 | 630 |
| Median age today | 72 | 70 |
| Peak year | 1924 | 1934 |
| Best rank | 169th girls | 955th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | 10,107th | unranked |
| First recorded | 1885 | 1902 |
| Girls / boys | 42,878 / 13,246 | 1,796 / 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 Lavernes alive today are over 72; half the Lavonas are over 70. That is 2 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Laverne North Dakota (4.3×), Wisconsin (4.1×), South Dakota (2.8×)
- Lavona Oklahoma (30.0×), Nebraska (16.6×), Kansas (14.5×)
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: Laverne and Lavona.