Arda vs Ardell
American parents have registered 5,070 Ardells since 1880, against 892 Ardas. But in 2025 it was Arda that was commoner, 38 babies to fewer than five.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Arda Ardell
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 133 years in which either name was published, Ardell for 106 years and Arda for 27 years. The lead changed hands 8 times.
Side by side
| Arda | Ardell | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 892 | 5,070 |
| Most in one year | 41 | 151 |
| Babies in 2025 | 38 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 610 | 1,500 |
| Median age today | 14 | 70 |
| Peak year | 2006 | 1922 |
| Best rank | 2,784th boys | 742nd girls |
| Rank in 2025 | 3,128th | unranked |
| First recorded | 1889 | 1889 |
| Girls / boys | 332 / 560 | 2,635 / 2,435 |
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 Ardells alive today are over 70; half the Ardas are over 14. That is 56 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Arda New Jersey (7.9×), New York (5.4×), California (2.3×)
- Ardell North Dakota (35.5×), Minnesota (16.4×), South Dakota (11.2×)
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Arda and Ardell.