Humanverse

Mahari vs Mahlon

American parents have registered 5,683 Mahlons since 1880, against 727 Maharis. But in 2025 it was Mahari that was commoner, 67 babies to 44.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Mahari against Mahlon, 1880 to 2025 0 25 50 75 100 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Mahari Mahlon

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 145 years in which either name was published, Mahlon for 143 years and Mahari for 2 years. The lead changed hands 3 times.

Side by side

  Mahari Mahlon
Total US births 7275,683
Most in one year 6795
Babies in 2025 6744
Estimated living today 7202,900
Median age today 834
Peak year 20171919
Best rank 4,220th girls619th boys
Rank in 2025 4,460th2,833rd
First recorded 19971880
Girls / boys 397 / 33023 / 5,660

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 Mahlons alive today are over 34; half the Maharis are over 8. That is 26 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: Mahari and Mahlon.