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Eilidh vs Eilleen

American parents have registered 503 Eilleens since 1880, against 275 Eilidhs. But in 2025 it was Eilidh that was commoner, 12 babies to fewer than five.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Eilidh against Eilleen, 1880 to 2025 0 5 10 15 20 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Eilidh Eilleen

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 82 years in which either name was published, Eilleen for 57 years and Eilidh for 25 years. The lead changed hands 5 times.

Side by side

  Eilidh Eilleen
Total US births 275503
Most in one year 1816
Babies in 2025 12under 5
Estimated living today 270260
Median age today 962
Peak year 20191916
Best rank 6,414th girls2,028th girls
Rank in 2025 8,362ndunranked
First recorded 19991915
Girls / boys 275 / 0503 / 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 Eilleens alive today are over 62; half the Eilidhs are over 9. That is 53 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: Eilidh and Eilleen.