Athalia vs Athan
American parents have registered 2,173 Athans since 1880, against 1,001 Athalias. But in 2025 it was Athalia that was commoner, 89 babies to 48.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Athalia Athan
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 72 years in which either name was published, Athan for 56 years and Athalia for 16 years. The lead changed hands 12 times.
- 1918–1935 Athalia ahead, apart from one short spell
- 1961–2021 Athan ahead, apart from one short spell
- 2022–2025 Athalia ahead
8 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Athalia | Athan | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 1,001 | 2,173 |
| Most in one year | 89 | 123 |
| Babies in 2025 | 89 | 48 |
| Estimated living today | 930 | 2,100 |
| Median age today | 7 | 13 |
| Peak year | 2025 | 2012 |
| Best rank | 2,099th girls | 1,367th boys |
| Rank in 2025 | 2,099th | 2,676th |
| First recorded | 1915 | 1917 |
| Girls / boys | 1,001 / 0 | 0 / 2,173 |
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 Athans alive today are over 13; half the Athalias are over 7. That is 6 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Athalia Texas (4.5×), California (4.5×), Florida (2.2×)
- Athan California (4.6×), Texas (3.9×), Florida (2.3×)
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Both names abroad
Countries whose statistics office publishes both names, so the comparison can be made somewhere other than the United States.
| Country | Athalia | Athan |
|---|---|---|
| England and Wales | 81 | 58 |
Every spelling a country files separately is added together, over whatever years that country publishes — which is not the same range in any two of them, so read the columns against each other and not the rows.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Athalia and Athan.