Prentiss vs Preslie
American parents have registered 2,789 Prentisses since 1880, against 1,765 Preslies. But in 2025 it was Preslie that was commoner, 34 babies to fewer than five.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Prentiss Preslie
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 127 years in which either name was published, Prentiss for 97 years and Preslie for 30 years. The lead changed hands 3 times.
Side by side
| Prentiss | Preslie | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 2,789 | 1,765 |
| Most in one year | 50 | 118 |
| Babies in 2025 | under 5 | 34 |
| Estimated living today | 1,700 | 1,800 |
| Median age today | 50 | 14 |
| Peak year | 1943 | 2014 |
| Best rank | 980th boys | 1,757th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | unranked | 4,172nd |
| First recorded | 1887 | 1990 |
| Girls / boys | 65 / 2,724 | 1,765 / 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 Prentisses alive today are over 50; half the Preslies are over 14. That is 36 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Prentiss Mississippi (60.0×), Louisiana (6.9×), South Carolina (2.1×)
- Preslie Utah (15.4×), Texas (6.0×), Oklahoma (4.6×)
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: Prentiss and Preslie.