Obed vs Obert

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Obed Obert

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 120 years in which either name was published, Obed for 97 years and Obert for 23 years. The lead changed hands 16 times.

• 1902–1910 Obed ahead
• 1912–1928 Obert ahead, apart from one short spell
• 1929–1937 Obed ahead, apart from one short spell
• 1938–1940 Obert ahead
• 1941–2025 Obed ahead, apart from 2 short spells

8 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.

Side by side

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 Oberts alive today are over 50; half the Obeds are over 20. That is 30 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Where each one is strongest

• Obed Texas (4.9×), Arizona (4.3×), California (3.3×)
• Obert Minnesota (37.4×)

How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.

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