Jil vs Jillene

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Jil Jillene

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 51 years in which either name was published, Jillene for 31 years and Jil for 20 years. The lead changed hands 14 times.

• 1954–1963 Jil ahead
• 1964–1990 Jillene ahead, apart from 2 short spells
• 1991–2002 Jil ahead

10 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.

Side by side

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 Jils alive today are over 63; half the Jillenes are over 56. That is 7 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

• Jil vs Jill
• Jil vs Jillian
• Jil vs Jilian
• Jil vs Jiles
• Jillene vs Jill
• Jillene vs Jillian
• Jillene vs Jilian
• Jillene vs Jiles