Humanverse

Zebulon vs Zebulun

American parents have registered 2,149 Zebulons since 1880, against 894 Zebuluns. But in 2025 it was Zebulun that was commoner, 23 babies to 20.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Zebulon against Zebulun, 1880 to 2025 0 40 80 120 160 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Zebulon Zebulun

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 70 years in which either name was published, Zebulon for 66 years and Zebulun for 4 years. The lead changed hands 5 times.

Side by side

  Zebulon Zebulun
Total US births 2,149894
Most in one year 12530
Babies in 2025 2023
Estimated living today 2,000870
Median age today 3325
Peak year 19791979
Best rank 775th boys1,833rd boys
Rank in 2025 4,857th4,396th
First recorded 18911973
Girls / boys 0 / 2,1490 / 894

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 Zebulons alive today are over 33; half the Zebuluns are over 25. That is 8 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: Zebulon and Zebulun.