Laverne vs Lavonna
American parents have registered 56,124 Lavernes since 1880, against 1,980 Lavonnas. Laverne is still ahead, with 9 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Laverne Lavonna
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, Laverne for 128 years and Lavonna for 11 years. The lead changed hands 14 times.
- 1885–2012 Laverne ahead, apart from 3 short spells
- 2016–2018 Lavonna ahead
- 2019–2025 Laverne ahead, apart from one short spell
8 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Laverne | Lavonna | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 56,124 | 1,980 |
| Most in one year | 1,785 | 48 |
| Babies in 2025 | 9 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 17,000 | 1,400 |
| Median age today | 72 | 59 |
| Peak year | 1924 | 1963 |
| Best rank | 169th girls | 1,649th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | 10,107th | unranked |
| First recorded | 1885 | 1918 |
| Girls / boys | 42,878 / 13,246 | 1,980 / 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 Lavonnas are over 59. That is 13 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×)
- Lavonna Oklahoma (28.2×), California (2.9×), Texas (1.4×)
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 Lavonna.