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Burl vs Burnie

American parents have registered 7,200 Burls since 1880, against 938 Burnies. Neither name reached five babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Burl against Burnie, 1880 to 2025 0 60 120 180 240 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Burl Burnie

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

Burl has been the commoner name in every year either was published, 1880 to 2024. The lead has never changed hands.

The closest they came was 1895, when Burl had 8 and Burnie had 6.

Side by side

  Burl Burnie
Total US births 7,200938
Most in one year 21129
Babies in 2025 under 5under 5
Estimated living today 2,000270
Median age today 6970
Peak year 19211916
Best rank 418th boys1,335th boys
Rank in 2025 unrankedunranked
First recorded 18801888
Girls / boys 19 / 7,18162 / 876

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.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Burl and Burnie.