Humanverse

Jiles vs Jilian

American parents have registered 803 Jilians since 1880, against 639 Jileses. But in 2025 it was Jiles that was commoner, 8 babies to fewer than five.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Jiles against Jilian, 1880 to 2025 0 13 25 38 50 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Jiles Jilian

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 99 years in which either name was published, Jiles for 64 years and Jilian for 35 years. The lead changed hands 2 times.

Side by side

  Jiles Jilian
Total US births 639803
Most in one year 1944
Babies in 2025 8under 5
Estimated living today 310790
Median age today 3829
Peak year 19231982
Best rank 1,816th boys2,250th girls
Rank in 2025 8,910thunranked
First recorded 18921977
Girls / boys 0 / 639803 / 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 Jileses alive today are over 38; half the Jilians are over 29. That is 9 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: Jiles and Jilian.