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Gussie vs Gustaf

American parents have registered 14,182 Gussies since 1880, against 747 Gustafs. Neither name reached five babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Gussie against Gustaf, 1880 to 2025 0 125 250 375 500 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Gussie Gustaf

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 130 years in which either name was published, Gussie for 102 years and Gustaf for 28 years. The lead changed hands 5 times.

Side by side

  Gussie Gustaf
Total US births 14,182747
Most in one year 41725
Babies in 2025 under 5under 5
Estimated living today 1,700240
Median age today 7725
Peak year 19181917
Best rank 324th girls1,396th boys
Rank in 2025 unrankedunranked
First recorded 18801880
Girls / boys 13,084 / 1,0980 / 747

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 Gussies alive today are over 77; half the Gustafs are over 25. That is 52 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: Gussie and Gustaf.