Humanverse

Shirlene vs Shivanya

American parents have registered 4,856 Shirlenes since 1880, against 111 Shivanyas. But in 2025 it was Shivanya that was commoner, 15 babies to fewer than five.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Shirlene against Shivanya, 1880 to 2025 0 40 80 120 160 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Shirlene Shivanya

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 90 years in which either name was published, Shirlene for 80 years and Shivanya for 10 years. The lead changed hands once.

Side by side

  Shirlene Shivanya
Total US births 4,856111
Most in one year 15916
Babies in 2025 under 515
Estimated living today 3,400110
Median age today 684
Peak year 19562019
Best rank 782nd girls7,025th girls
Rank in 2025 unranked7,133rd
First recorded 19232016
Girls / boys 4,856 / 0111 / 0

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 Shirlenes alive today are over 68; half the Shivanyas are over 4. 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: Shirlene and Shivanya.