Hershel vs Hertha
American parents have registered 10,334 Hershels since 1880, against 1,453 Herthas. Hershel is still ahead, with 48 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Hershel Hertha
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 145 years in which either name was published, Hershel for 125 years and Hertha for 20 years. The lead changed hands 6 times.
Side by side
| Hershel | Hertha | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 10,334 | 1,453 |
| Most in one year | 226 | 65 |
| Babies in 2025 | 48 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 4,000 | 110 |
| Median age today | 57 | 82 |
| Peak year | 1924 | 1916 |
| Best rank | 407th boys | 840th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | 2,676th | unranked |
| First recorded | 1880 | 1886 |
| Girls / boys | 5 / 10,329 | 1,453 / 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 Herthas alive today are over 82; half the Hershels are over 57. That is 25 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Hershel Arkansas (8.6×), Kentucky (7.5×), Oklahoma (5.7×)
- Hertha North Dakota (83.1×), Wisconsin (6.0×), Minnesota (5.7×)
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: Hershel and Hertha.