Humanverse

Adlai vs Adline

American parents have registered 1,177 Adlines since 1880, against 696 Adlais. But in 2025 it was Adlai that was commoner, 13 babies to fewer than five.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Adlai against Adline, 1880 to 2025 0 10 20 30 40 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Adlai Adline

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 119 years in which either name was published, Adline for 72 years and Adlai for 47 years. The lead changed hands 9 times.

Side by side

  Adlai Adline
Total US births 6961,177
Most in one year 3937
Babies in 2025 13under 5
Estimated living today 590180
Median age today 1776
Peak year 19521919
Best rank 1,182nd boys1,242nd girls
Rank in 2025 10,695thunranked
First recorded 18911880
Girls / boys 88 / 6081,177 / 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 Adlines alive today are over 76; half the Adlais are over 17. That is 59 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: Adlai and Adline.