Drena vs Drexel
American parents have registered 1,444 Drexels since 1880, against 618 Drenas. Drexel is still ahead, with 11 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Drena Drexel
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 113 years in which either name was published, Drexel for 87 years and Drena for 26 years. The lead changed hands 18 times.
- 1910–1944 Drexel ahead
- 1945–1949 Drena ahead
- 1950–1965 Drexel ahead, apart from 2 short spells
- 1970–1984 Drena ahead, apart from 2 short spells
- 1985–2025 Drexel ahead, apart from 2 short spells
8 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Drena | Drexel | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 618 | 1,444 |
| Most in one year | 37 | 29 |
| Babies in 2025 | under 5 | 11 |
| Estimated living today | 490 | 820 |
| Median age today | 63 | 44 |
| Peak year | 1945 | 1957 |
| Best rank | 1,312th girls | 1,511th boys |
| Rank in 2025 | unranked | 7,194th |
| First recorded | 1938 | 1910 |
| Girls / boys | 618 / 0 | 40 / 1,404 |
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 Drenas alive today are over 63; half the Drexels are over 44. That is 19 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: Drena and Drexel.