Humanverse

Johnny vs Johnross

American parents have registered 321,696 Johnnys since 1880, against 72 Johnrosses. Johnny is still ahead, with 690 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Johnny against Johnross, 1880 to 2025 0 2k 4k 6k 8k 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Johnny Johnross

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

Johnny has been the commoner name in every year either was published, 1880 to 2025. The lead has never changed hands.

The closest they came was 2015, when Johnny had 1,160 and Johnross had 9.

Side by side

  Johnny Johnross
Total US births 321,69672
Most in one year 7,49711
Babies in 2025 690under 5
Estimated living today 216,00070
Median age today 5834
Peak year 19471982
Best rank 49th boys3,692nd boys
Rank in 2025 457thunranked
First recorded 18801982
Girls / boys 3,778 / 317,9180 / 72

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 Johnnys alive today are over 58; half the Johnrosses are over 34. That is 24 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: Johnny and Johnross.