Towanda vs Townsend
American parents have registered 2,140 Towandas since 1880, against 882 Townsends. But in 2025 it was Townsend that was commoner, 41 babies to fewer than five.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Towanda Townsend
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 103 years in which either name was published, Townsend for 63 years and Towanda for 40 years. The lead changed hands 10 times.
Side by side
| Towanda | Townsend | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 2,140 | 882 |
| Most in one year | 131 | 41 |
| Babies in 2025 | under 5 | 41 |
| Estimated living today | 2,000 | 650 |
| Median age today | 54 | 14 |
| Peak year | 1971 | 2025 |
| Best rank | 967th girls | 3,240th boys |
| Rank in 2025 | unranked | 3,240th |
| First recorded | 1948 | 1914 |
| Girls / boys | 2,140 / 0 | 11 / 871 |
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 Towandas alive today are over 54; half the Townsends are over 14. That is 40 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: Towanda and Townsend.