Humanverse

Mishell vs Mistie

American parents have registered 2,240 Misties since 1880, against 516 Mishells. But in 2025 it was Mishell that was commoner, 5 babies to fewer than five.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Mishell against Mistie, 1880 to 2025 0 40 80 120 160 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Mishell Mistie

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 65 years in which either name was published, Mistie for 41 years and Mishell for 24 years. The lead changed hands 4 times.

Side by side

  Mishell Mistie
Total US births 5162,240
Most in one year 17142
Babies in 2025 5under 5
Estimated living today 5002,100
Median age today 2747
Peak year 20021975
Best rank 6,392nd girls915th girls
Rank in 2025 14,942ndunranked
First recorded 19571960
Girls / boys 516 / 02,240 / 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 Misties alive today are over 47; half the Mishells are over 27. That is 20 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: Mishell and Mistie.