Humanverse

Ron vs Ronold

American parents have registered 36,432 Rons since 1880, against 865 Ronolds. Ron is still ahead, with 24 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Ron against Ronold, 1880 to 2025 0 500 1k 1.5k 2k 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Ron Ronold

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 103 years in which either name was published, Ron for 101 years and Ronold for 2 years. The lead changed hands 2 times.

Side by side

  Ron Ronold
Total US births 36,432865
Most in one year 1,88835
Babies in 2025 24under 5
Estimated living today 27,000480
Median age today 6269
Peak year 19601950
Best rank 170th boys1,220th boys
Rank in 2025 4,249thunranked
First recorded 19191927
Girls / boys 70 / 36,3620 / 865

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 Ronolds alive today are over 69; half the Rons are over 62. That is 7 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: Ron and Ronold.