Humanverse

Simon vs Simpson

American parents have registered 70,444 Simons since 1880, against 707 Simpsons. Simon is still ahead, with 1,529 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Simon against Simpson, 1880 to 2025 0 500 1k 1.5k 2k 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Simon Simpson

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

Simon has been the commoner name in every year either was published, 1880 to 2025. The lead has never changed hands.

The closest they came was 1884, when Simon had 85 and Simpson had 13.

Side by side

  Simon Simpson
Total US births 70,444707
Most in one year 1,65325
Babies in 2025 1,529under 5
Estimated living today 57,000190
Median age today 1965
Peak year 20151921
Best rank 235th boys1,509th boys
Rank in 2025 230thunranked
First recorded 18801883
Girls / boys 161 / 70,2830 / 707

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 Simpsons alive today are over 65; half the Simons are over 19. That is 46 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: Simon and Simpson.