Humanverse

Griffen vs Grisel

American parents have registered 1,808 Griffens since 1880, against 1,678 Grisels. Griffen is still ahead, with 17 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Griffen against Grisel, 1880 to 2025 0 60 120 180 240 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Griffen Grisel

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 71 years in which either name was published, Grisel for 39 years and Griffen for 32 years. The lead changed hands 3 times.

Side by side

  Griffen Grisel
Total US births 1,8081,678
Most in one year 110211
Babies in 2025 177
Estimated living today 1,8001,600
Median age today 2140
Peak year 19991984
Best rank 1,174th boys784th girls
Rank in 2025 5,399th11,932nd
First recorded 19851954
Girls / boys 0 / 1,8081,671 / 7

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 Grisels alive today are over 40; half the Griffens are over 21. That is 19 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Where each one is strongest

How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Griffen and Grisel.