Macarthur vs Macy
American parents have registered 33,304 Macys since 1880, against 1,291 Macarthurs. Macy is still ahead, with 390 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Macarthur Macy
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 138 years in which either name was published, Macy for 124 years and Macarthur for 14 years. The lead changed hands 12 times.
- 1885–1941 Macy ahead
- 1942–1947 Macarthur ahead
- 1954–1961 Macy ahead
- 1962–1965 Macarthur ahead
- 1968–2025 Macy ahead
8 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Macarthur | Macy | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 1,291 | 33,304 |
| Most in one year | 142 | 1,494 |
| Babies in 2025 | 6 | 390 |
| Estimated living today | 990 | 32,000 |
| Median age today | 46 | 20 |
| Peak year | 1942 | 2003 |
| Best rank | 512th boys | 219th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | 10,695th | 718th |
| First recorded | 1941 | 1885 |
| Girls / boys | 0 / 1,291 | 32,749 / 555 |
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 Macarthurs alive today are over 46; half the Macys are over 20. That is 26 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Macarthur Mississippi (15.4×), Alabama (6.9×)
- Macy Nebraska (2.1×), Idaho (2.1×), South Dakota (2.0×)
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: Macarthur and Macy.