Humanverse

Fancy vs Fantasia

American parents have registered 1,815 Fantasias since 1880, against 573 Fancys. But in 2025 it was Fancy that was commoner, 11 babies to fewer than five.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Fancy against Fantasia, 1880 to 2025 0 50 100 150 200 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Fancy Fantasia

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 58 years in which either name was published, Fantasia for 32 years and Fancy for 26 years. The lead changed hands 6 times.

Side by side

  Fancy Fantasia
Total US births 5731,815
Most in one year 36167
Babies in 2025 11under 5
Estimated living today 5601,800
Median age today 2528
Peak year 19912004
Best rank 3,097th girls1,278th girls
Rank in 2025 8,860thunranked
First recorded 19521979
Girls / boys 573 / 01,815 / 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 Fantasias alive today are over 28; half the Fancys are over 25. That is 3 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: Fancy and Fantasia.