Humanverse

Mahala vs Mahari

American parents have registered 2,889 Mahalas since 1880, against 727 Maharis. But in 2025 it was Mahari that was commoner, 67 babies to 15.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Mahala against Mahari, 1880 to 2025 0 20 40 60 80 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Mahala Mahari

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 141 years in which either name was published, Mahala for 131 years and Mahari for 10 years. The lead changed hands 3 times.

Side by side

  Mahala Mahari
Total US births 2,889727
Most in one year 7467
Babies in 2025 1567
Estimated living today 1,800720
Median age today 238
Peak year 20062017
Best rank 2,485th girls4,220th girls
Rank in 2025 7,133rd4,460th
First recorded 18801997
Girls / boys 2,889 / 0397 / 330

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 Mahalas alive today are over 23; half the Maharis are over 8. That is 15 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: Mahala and Mahari.