Humanverse

Islam vs Island

American parents have registered 817 Islams since 1880, against 807 Islands. But in 2025 it was Island that was commoner, 84 babies to 25.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

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

Islam Island

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 49 years in which either name was published, Islam for 33 years and Island for 16 years. The lead changed hands 5 times.

Side by side

  Islam Island
Total US births 817807
Most in one year 3690
Babies in 2025 2584
Estimated living today 800800
Median age today 235
Peak year 20242024
Best rank 3,455th boys2,585th girls
Rank in 2025 4,139th2,583rd
First recorded 19751998
Girls / boys 128 / 689698 / 109

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 Islams alive today are over 23; half the Islands are over 5. That is 18 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: Islam and Island.