Humanverse

Eilene vs Eilidh

American parents have registered 2,087 Eilenes since 1880, against 275 Eilidhs. But in 2025 it was Eilidh that was commoner, 12 babies to 10.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Eilene against Eilidh, 1880 to 2025 0 15 30 45 60 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Eilene Eilidh

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 112 years in which either name was published, Eilene for 94 years and Eilidh for 18 years. The lead changed hands 7 times.

Side by side

  Eilene Eilidh
Total US births 2,087275
Most in one year 5418
Babies in 2025 1012
Estimated living today 1,100270
Median age today 669
Peak year 19462019
Best rank 1,165th girls6,414th girls
Rank in 2025 9,457th8,362nd
First recorded 19091999
Girls / boys 2,087 / 0275 / 0

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 Eilenes alive today are over 66; half the Eilidhs are over 9. That is 57 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: Eilene and Eilidh.