Humanverse

Gavan vs Gavina

American parents have registered 987 Gavans since 1880, against 80 Gavinas. Gavan is still ahead, with 5 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Gavan against Gavina, 1880 to 2025 0 20 40 60 80 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Gavan Gavina

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 53 years in which either name was published, Gavan for 42 years and Gavina for 11 years. The lead changed hands 3 times.

Side by side

  Gavan Gavina
Total US births 98780
Most in one year 8013
Babies in 2025 5under 5
Estimated living today 97010
Median age today 2149
Peak year 20031925
Best rank 1,578th boys2,617th girls
Rank in 2025 12,008thunranked
First recorded 19701922
Girls / boys 0 / 98780 / 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 Gavinas alive today are over 49; half the Gavans are over 21. That is 28 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: Gavan and Gavina.