Lovella vs Lovetta
American parents have registered 1,735 Lovellas since 1880, against 1,008 Lovettas. Lovella is still ahead, with 32 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Lovella Lovetta
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 109 years in which either name was published, Lovella for 80 years and Lovetta for 29 years. The lead changed hands 18 times.
- 1888–1953 Lovella ahead, apart from 3 short spells
- 1954–1978 Lovetta ahead, apart from 4 short spells
- 1979–1981 Lovella ahead
- 1982–1991 Lovetta ahead
- 1993–2025 Lovella ahead
7 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Lovella | Lovetta | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 1,735 | 1,008 |
| Most in one year | 39 | 25 |
| Babies in 2025 | 32 | 5 |
| Estimated living today | 840 | 520 |
| Median age today | 51 | 65 |
| Peak year | 1920 | 1928 |
| Best rank | 1,233rd girls | 1,637th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | 4,352nd | 14,942nd |
| First recorded | 1888 | 1910 |
| Girls / boys | 1,735 / 0 | 1,008 / 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 Lovettas alive today are over 65; half the Lovellas are over 51. That is 14 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: Lovella and Lovetta.