Humanverse

Gorden vs Gorman

American parents have registered 2,049 Gordens since 1880, against 818 Gormans. Neither name reached five babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Gorden against Gorman, 1880 to 2025 0 25 50 75 100 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Gorden Gorman

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 88 years in which either name was published, Gorden for 86 years and Gorman for 2 years. The lead changed hands 4 times.

Side by side

  Gorden Gorman
Total US births 2,049818
Most in one year 8232
Babies in 2025 under 5under 5
Estimated living today 610180
Median age today 6873
Peak year 19221924
Best rank 722nd boys1,287th boys
Rank in 2025 unrankedunranked
First recorded 18861903
Girls / boys 0 / 2,0490 / 818

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 Gormans alive today are over 73; half the Gordens are over 68. That is 5 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: Gorden and Gorman.