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Whitlee vs Whitman

American parents have registered 943 Whitlees since 1880, against 901 Whitmans. Whitlee is still ahead, with 56 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

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

Whitlee Whitman

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 68 years in which either name was published, Whitman for 45 years and Whitlee for 23 years. The lead changed hands 11 times.

Side by side

  Whitlee Whitman
Total US births 943901
Most in one year 5639
Babies in 2025 5633
Estimated living today 940770
Median age today 912
Peak year 20232018
Best rank 3,014th girls2,994th boys
Rank in 2025 3,211th3,450th
First recorded 19881909
Girls / boys 930 / 130 / 901

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 Whitmans alive today are over 12; half the Whitlees are over 9. That is 3 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: Whitlee and Whitman.