Humanverse

Jael vs Jaeven

American parents have registered 7,948 Jaels since 1880, against 84 Jaevens. Jael is still ahead, with 304 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

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

Jael Jaeven

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

Jael has been the commoner name in every year either was published, 1957 to 2025. The lead has never changed hands.

The closest they came was 2002, when Jael had 149 and Jaeven had 17.

Side by side

  Jael Jaeven
Total US births 7,94884
Most in one year 40917
Babies in 2025 304under 5
Estimated living today 7,90080
Median age today 1316
Peak year 20122002
Best rank 1,196th girls4,502nd boys
Rank in 2025 1,388thunranked
First recorded 19572002
Girls / boys 4,561 / 3,3870 / 84

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 Jaevens alive today are over 16; half the Jaels are over 13. That is 3 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: Jael and Jaeven.