Dresden vs Drexel
American parents have registered 1,444 Drexels since 1880, against 1,155 Dresdens. But in 2025 it was Dresden that was commoner, 18 babies to 11.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Dresden 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 79 years and Dresden for 34 years. The lead changed hands 7 times.
Side by side
| Dresden | Drexel | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 1,155 | 1,444 |
| Most in one year | 84 | 29 |
| Babies in 2025 | 18 | 11 |
| Estimated living today | 1,100 | 820 |
| Median age today | 13 | 44 |
| Peak year | 2012 | 1957 |
| Best rank | 1,942nd boys | 1,511th boys |
| Rank in 2025 | 5,208th | 7,194th |
| First recorded | 1964 | 1910 |
| Girls / boys | 183 / 972 | 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 Drexels alive today are over 44; half the Dresdens are over 13. That is 31 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: Dresden and Drexel.