Humanverse

Tully vs Tulsen

American parents have registered 1,244 Tullys since 1880, against 86 Tulsens. But in 2025 it was Tulsen that was commoner, 42 babies to 35.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Tully against Tulsen, 1880 to 2025 0 13 25 38 50 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Tully Tulsen

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 105 years in which either name was published, Tully for 104 years and Tulsen for 1 year. The lead changed hands once.

Side by side

  Tully Tulsen
Total US births 1,24486
Most in one year 4942
Babies in 2025 3542
Estimated living today 96090
Median age today 241
Peak year 20042025
Best rank 3,735th boys2,941st boys
Rank in 2025 6,143rd2,941st
First recorded 19002023
Girls / boys 199 / 1,0450 / 86

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 Tullys alive today are over 24; half the Tulsens are over 1. That is 23 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: Tully and Tulsen.