Ronan vs Ronnel
American parents have registered 20,938 Ronans since 1880, against 269 Ronnels. Ronan is still ahead, with 1,428 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Ronan Ronnel
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 68 years in which either name was published, Ronan for 52 years and Ronnel for 16 years. The lead changed hands 15 times.
- 1941–1954 Ronnel ahead
- 1959–1982 Ronan ahead, apart from 2 short spells
- 1983–1985 Ronnel ahead
- 1991–2025 Ronan ahead
10 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Ronan | Ronnel | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 20,938 | 269 |
| Most in one year | 1,428 | 12 |
| Babies in 2025 | 1,428 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 21,000 | 230 |
| Median age today | 7 | 38 |
| Peak year | 2025 | 1983 |
| Best rank | 247th boys | 3,411th boys |
| Rank in 2025 | 247th | unranked |
| First recorded | 1959 | 1941 |
| Girls / boys | 259 / 20,679 | 0 / 269 |
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 Ronnels alive today are over 38; half the Ronans are over 7. That is 31 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: Ronan and Ronnel.