Medford vs Medora
American parents have registered 759 Medoras since 1880, against 665 Medfords. Medora is still ahead, with 7 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Medford Medora
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 99 years in which either name was published, Medora for 58 years and Medford for 41 years. The lead changed hands 20 times.
- 1885–1917 Medora ahead, apart from one short spell
- 1923–1962 Medford ahead, apart from 2 short spells
- 1969–2025 Medora ahead
15 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Medford | Medora | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 665 | 759 |
| Most in one year | 35 | 25 |
| Babies in 2025 | under 5 | 7 |
| Estimated living today | 140 | 260 |
| Median age today | 75 | 50 |
| Peak year | 1924 | 1920 |
| Best rank | 1,223rd boys | 1,666th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | unranked | 11,932nd |
| First recorded | 1911 | 1885 |
| Girls / boys | 0 / 665 | 759 / 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 Medfords alive today are over 75; half the Medoras are over 50. That is 25 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: Medford and Medora.