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Sanford vs Santhiago

American parents have registered 15,044 Sanfords since 1880, against 598 Santhiagos. But in 2025 it was Santhiago that was commoner, 70 babies to 12.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Sanford against Santhiago, 1880 to 2025 0 80 160 240 320 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Sanford Santhiago

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 133 years and Santhiago for 13 years. The lead changed hands once.

Side by side

  Sanford Santhiago
Total US births 15,044598
Most in one year 31570
Babies in 2025 1270
Estimated living today 5,500590
Median age today 675
Peak year 19292025
Best rank 311th boys2,091st boys
Rank in 2025 6,803rd2,091st
First recorded 18802009
Girls / boys 0 / 15,0440 / 598

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 Santhiagos are over 5. That is 62 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Where each one is strongest

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: Sanford and Santhiago.