Humanverse

Ardelle vs Ardena

American parents have registered 1,500 Ardelles since 1880, against 550 Ardenas. Neither name reached five babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Ardelle against Ardena, 1880 to 2025 0 20 40 60 80 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Ardelle Ardena

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 74 years in which either name was published, Ardelle for 53 years and Ardena for 21 years. The lead changed hands 9 times.

Side by side

  Ardelle Ardena
Total US births 1,500550
Most in one year 7120
Babies in 2025 under 5under 5
Estimated living today 290230
Median age today 8270
Peak year 19251919
Best rank 877th girls1,855th girls
Rank in 2025 unrankedunranked
First recorded 18971900
Girls / boys 1,500 / 0550 / 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 Ardelles alive today are over 82; half the Ardenas are over 70. That is 12 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: Ardelle and Ardena.