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Arne vs Arnette

American parents have registered 2,854 Arnes since 1880, against 1,088 Arnettes. Arne is still ahead, with 7 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

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

Arne Arnette

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 114 years in which either name was published, Arne for 110 years and Arnette for 4 years. The lead changed hands 6 times.

Side by side

  Arne Arnette
Total US births 2,8541,088
Most in one year 6949
Babies in 2025 7under 5
Estimated living today 1,300700
Median age today 6366
Peak year 19161959
Best rank 724th boys1,643rd girls
Rank in 2025 9,714thunranked
First recorded 19031907
Girls / boys 0 / 2,8541,055 / 33

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 Arnettes alive today are over 66; half the Arnes are over 63. That is 3 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: Arne and Arnette.