Akeelah vs Akela
American parents have registered 1,533 Akeelahs since 1880, against 658 Akelas. Akeelah is still ahead, with 15 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Akeelah Akela
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 50 years in which either name was published, Akela for 30 years and Akeelah for 20 years. The lead changed hands once.
Side by side
| Akeelah | Akela | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 1,533 | 658 |
| Most in one year | 403 | 27 |
| Babies in 2025 | 15 | 7 |
| Estimated living today | 1,500 | 650 |
| Median age today | 17 | 25 |
| Peak year | 2006 | 1996 |
| Best rank | 708th girls | 3,942nd girls |
| Rank in 2025 | 7,133rd | 11,932nd |
| First recorded | 1989 | 1975 |
| Girls / boys | 1,533 / 0 | 620 / 38 |
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 Akelas alive today are over 25; half the Akeelahs are over 17. 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: Akeelah and Akela.