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Waddell vs Waddie

American parents have registered 780 Waddells since 1880, against 26 Waddies. Neither name reached five babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Waddell against Waddie, 1880 to 2025 0 6 12 18 24 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Waddell Waddie

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 73 years in which either name was published, Waddell for 72 years and Waddie for 1 year. The lead changed hands once.

Side by side

  Waddell Waddie
Total US births 78026
Most in one year 226
Babies in 2025 under 5under 5
Estimated living today 3101
Median age today 6792
Peak year 19471919
Best rank 1,599th boys3,736th boys
Rank in 2025 unrankedunranked
First recorded 19081899
Girls / boys 0 / 7805 / 21

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 Waddies alive today are over 92; half the Waddells are over 67. That is 25 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: Waddell and Waddie.