Jacalyn vs Jackson
American parents have registered 297,998 Jacksons since 1880, against 5,185 Jacalyns. Jackson is still ahead, with 6,597 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Jacalyn Jackson
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 146 years in which either name was published, Jackson for 138 years and Jacalyn for 8 years. The lead changed hands 4 times.
Side by side
| Jacalyn | Jackson | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 5,185 | 297,998 |
| Most in one year | 482 | 12,626 |
| Babies in 2025 | under 5 | 6,597 |
| Estimated living today | 4,400 | 286,000 |
| Median age today | 67 | 14 |
| Peak year | 1954 | 2013 |
| Best rank | 395th girls | 16th boys |
| Rank in 2025 | unranked | 36th |
| First recorded | 1937 | 1880 |
| Girls / boys | 5,185 / 0 | 778 / 297,220 |
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 Jacalyns alive today are over 67; half the Jacksons are over 14. That is 53 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Jacalyn Wisconsin (4.6×), South Dakota (4.1×), North Dakota (3.1×)
- Jackson Utah (2.1×), New Hampshire (1.8×), Nevada (1.8×)
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: Jacalyn and Jackson.