Lisbeth vs Lish
American parents have registered 5,934 Lisbeths since 1880, against 31 Lishes. Lisbeth is still ahead, with 24 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Lisbeth Lish
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 113 years in which either name was published, Lisbeth for 111 years and Lish for 2 years. The lead changed hands once.
Side by side
| Lisbeth | Lish | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 5,934 | 31 |
| Most in one year | 409 | 7 |
| Babies in 2025 | 24 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 5,400 | 9 |
| Median age today | 26 | 60 |
| Peak year | 2002 | 1889 |
| Best rank | 624th girls | 878th boys |
| Rank in 2025 | 5,238th | unranked |
| First recorded | 1911 | 1889 |
| Girls / boys | 5,934 / 0 | 7 / 24 |
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 Lishes alive today are over 60; half the Lisbeths are over 26. That is 34 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: Lisbeth and Lish.