Humanverse

Joeli vs Joellen

American parents have registered 5,399 Joellens since 1880, against 238 Joelis. But in 2025 it was Joeli that was commoner, 6 babies to 5.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Joeli against Joellen, 1880 to 2025 0 50 100 150 200 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Joeli Joellen

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 100 years in which either name was published, Joellen for 89 years and Joeli for 11 years. The lead changed hands 11 times.

Side by side

  Joeli Joellen
Total US births 2385,399
Most in one year 15167
Babies in 2025 65
Estimated living today 2304,200
Median age today 2062
Peak year 19691960
Best rank 3,619th girls796th girls
Rank in 2025 13,208th14,942nd
First recorded 19691922
Girls / boys 238 / 05,399 / 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 Joellens alive today are over 62; half the Joelis are over 20. That is 42 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: Joeli and Joellen.