Ebb vs Ebba
American parents have registered 953 Ebbas since 1880, against 247 Ebbs. Ebba is still ahead, with 32 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Ebb Ebba
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 85 years in which either name was published, Ebba for 69 years and Ebb for 16 years. The lead changed hands 13 times.
- 1881–1887 Ebb ahead
- 1888–1929 Ebba ahead
- 1930–1936 Ebb ahead, apart from one short spell
- 1955–2025 Ebba ahead
9 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Ebb | Ebba | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 247 | 953 |
| Most in one year | 13 | 32 |
| Babies in 2025 | under 5 | 32 |
| Estimated living today | 20 | 280 |
| Median age today | 75 | 7 |
| Peak year | 1890 | 1898 |
| Best rank | 533rd boys | 631st girls |
| Rank in 2025 | unranked | 4,987th |
| First recorded | 1881 | 1888 |
| Girls / boys | 0 / 247 | 925 / 28 |
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 Ebbs alive today are over 75; half the Ebbas are over 7. That is 68 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: Ebb and Ebba.