Mahalia vs Mahari
American parents have registered 2,370 Mahalias since 1880, against 727 Maharis. But in 2025 it was Mahari that was commoner, 67 babies to 53.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Mahalia 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 121 years in which either name was published, Mahalia for 119 years and Mahari for 2 years. The lead changed hands 3 times.
Side by side
| Mahalia | Mahari | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 2,370 | 727 |
| Most in one year | 65 | 67 |
| Babies in 2025 | 53 | 67 |
| Estimated living today | 2,000 | 720 |
| Median age today | 22 | 8 |
| Peak year | 2020 | 2017 |
| Best rank | 2,597th girls | 4,220th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | 3,067th | 4,460th |
| First recorded | 1880 | 1997 |
| Girls / boys | 2,370 / 0 | 397 / 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 Mahalias alive today are over 22; half the Maharis are over 8. 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: Mahalia and Mahari.