Sanem vs Sanford
American parents have registered 15,044 Sanfords since 1880, against 73 Sanems. Sanford is still ahead, with 12 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Sanem Sanford
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 146 years in which either name was published, Sanford for 143 years and Sanem for 3 years. The lead changed hands 4 times.
Side by side
| Sanem | Sanford | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 73 | 15,044 |
| Most in one year | 23 | 315 |
| Babies in 2025 | 10 | 12 |
| Estimated living today | 70 | 5,500 |
| Median age today | 3 | 67 |
| Peak year | 2021 | 1929 |
| Best rank | 5,398th girls | 311th boys |
| Rank in 2025 | 9,457th | 6,803rd |
| First recorded | 2021 | 1880 |
| Girls / boys | 73 / 0 | 0 / 15,044 |
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 Sanfords alive today are over 67; half the Sanems are over 3. That is 64 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: Sanem and Sanford.