Rooney vs Roosevelt
American parents have registered 38,024 Roosevelts since 1880, against 1,529 Rooneys. But in 2025 it was Rooney that was commoner, 111 babies to 36.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Rooney Roosevelt
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 131 years in which either name was published, Roosevelt for 117 years and Rooney for 14 years. The lead changed hands 3 times.
Side by side
| Rooney | Roosevelt | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 1,529 | 38,024 |
| Most in one year | 141 | 1,225 |
| Babies in 2025 | 111 | 36 |
| Estimated living today | 1,500 | 16,000 |
| Median age today | 6 | 64 |
| Peak year | 2024 | 1933 |
| Best rank | 1,955th girls | 132nd boys |
| Rank in 2025 | 2,214th | 4,249th |
| First recorded | 1943 | 1895 |
| Girls / boys | 858 / 671 | 363 / 37,661 |
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 Roosevelts alive today are over 64; half the Rooneys are over 6. That is 58 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Rooney California (5.8×), Ohio (1.5×), New York (0.8×)
- Roosevelt Mississippi (11.8×), South Carolina (6.4×), Alabama (6.0×)
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: Rooney and Roosevelt.