Humanverse

Petronella vs Petros

American parents have registered 715 Petroses since 1880, against 335 Petronellas. Petros is still ahead, with 9 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Petronella against Petros, 1880 to 2025 0 5 10 15 20 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Petronella Petros

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 92 years in which either name was published, Petros for 58 years and Petronella for 34 years. The lead changed hands once.

Side by side

  Petronella Petros
Total US births 335715
Most in one year 1920
Babies in 2025 under 59
Estimated living today 30690
Median age today 8227
Peak year 19162007
Best rank 1,805th girls4,640th boys
Rank in 2025 unranked8,243rd
First recorded 18841964
Girls / boys 335 / 00 / 715

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 Petronellas alive today are over 82; half the Petroses are over 27. That is 55 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: Petronella and Petros.