Vesper vs Vester
American parents have registered 3,228 Vesters since 1880, against 1,006 Vespers. But in 2025 it was Vesper that was commoner, 80 babies to fewer than five.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Vesper Vester
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 120 years in which either name was published, Vester for 102 years and Vesper for 18 years. The lead changed hands once.
Side by side
| Vesper | Vester | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 1,006 | 3,228 |
| Most in one year | 89 | 95 |
| Babies in 2025 | 80 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 870 | 710 |
| Median age today | 6 | 71 |
| Peak year | 2023 | 1922 |
| Best rank | 2,258th girls | 766th boys |
| Rank in 2025 | 2,458th | unranked |
| First recorded | 1902 | 1882 |
| Girls / boys | 932 / 74 | 662 / 2,566 |
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 Vesters alive today are over 71; half the Vespers are over 6. That is 65 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Vesper California (6.0×), Texas (3.2×)
- Vester Alabama (12.9×), Arkansas (11.7×), Mississippi (8.7×)
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Vesper and Vester.