Humanverse

Vail vs Vaishnavi

American parents have registered 956 Vaishnavis since 1880, against 547 Vails. But in 2025 it was Vail that was commoner, 25 babies to 15.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Vail against Vaishnavi, 1880 to 2025 0 15 30 45 60 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Vail Vaishnavi

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 41 years in which either name was published, Vail for 21 years and Vaishnavi for 20 years. The lead changed hands 4 times.

Side by side

  Vail Vaishnavi
Total US births 547956
Most in one year 5959
Babies in 2025 2515
Estimated living today 510950
Median age today 714
Peak year 20182008
Best rank 3,050th girls2,957th girls
Rank in 2025 6,116th7,133rd
First recorded 19151993
Girls / boys 434 / 113956 / 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 Vaishnavis alive today are over 14; half the Vails are over 7. That is 7 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: Vail and Vaishnavi.