Earnestine vs Earvin
American parents have registered 16,134 Earnestines since 1880, against 1,198 Earvins. Neither name reached five babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Earnestine Earvin
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 115 years in which either name was published, Earnestine for 93 years and Earvin for 22 years. The lead changed hands 7 times.
- 1889–1979 Earnestine ahead
- 1980 Earvin ahead
- 1981–1985 Earnestine ahead
- 1986–1994 Earvin ahead
- 1995 Earnestine ahead
- 1996–2000 Earvin ahead
- 2001 Earnestine ahead
- 2003–2017 Earvin ahead
Side by side
| Earnestine | Earvin | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 16,134 | 1,198 |
| Most in one year | 489 | 49 |
| Babies in 2025 | under 5 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 7,300 | 700 |
| Median age today | 75 | 45 |
| Peak year | 1944 | 1992 |
| Best rank | 305th girls | 1,731st boys |
| Rank in 2025 | unranked | unranked |
| First recorded | 1889 | 1910 |
| Girls / boys | 16,073 / 61 | 0 / 1,198 |
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 Earnestines alive today are over 75; half the Earvins are over 45. That is 30 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Earnestine Mississippi (15.7×), Arkansas (8.6×), Alabama (6.7×)
- Earvin California (8.1×)
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Earnestine and Earvin.