Humanverse

Wylee vs Wylene

American parents have registered 980 Wylenes since 1880, against 640 Wylees. But in 2025 it was Wylee that was commoner, 41 babies to fewer than five.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

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

Wylee Wylene

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 89 years in which either name was published, Wylene for 58 years and Wylee for 31 years. The lead changed hands 3 times.

Side by side

  Wylee Wylene
Total US births 640980
Most in one year 4431
Babies in 2025 41under 5
Estimated living today 630450
Median age today 973
Peak year 20241935
Best rank 3,793rd boys1,307th girls
Rank in 2025 3,848thunranked
First recorded 19791914
Girls / boys 177 / 463980 / 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 Wylenes alive today are over 73; half the Wylees are over 9. That is 64 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: Wylee and Wylene.