Murl vs Murry
American parents have registered 3,179 Murrys since 1880, against 2,567 Murls. Neither name reached five babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Murl Murry
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 112 years in which either name was published, Murry for 82 years and Murl for 30 years. The lead changed hands 32 times.
- 1885–1891 Murl ahead
- 1898–1900 Murry ahead
- 1903–1916 Murl ahead, apart from one short spell
- 1931–2021 Murry ahead, apart from 3 short spells
25 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Murl | Murry | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 2,567 | 3,179 |
| Most in one year | 84 | 99 |
| Babies in 2025 | under 5 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 470 | 950 |
| Median age today | 75 | 68 |
| Peak year | 1919 | 1917 |
| Best rank | 811th boys | 612th boys |
| Rank in 2025 | unranked | unranked |
| First recorded | 1885 | 1882 |
| Girls / boys | 626 / 1,941 | 94 / 3,085 |
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 Murls alive today are over 75; half the Murrys are over 68. That is 7 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Murl Oklahoma (21.2×), Missouri (9.6×), Arkansas (5.8×)
- Murry Mississippi (14.8×), Alabama (8.1×), Louisiana (5.0×)
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Murl and Murry.