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Klark vs Klay

American parents have registered 1,616 Klays since 1880, against 161 Klarks. Klay is still ahead, with 84 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Klark against Klay, 1880 to 2025 0 30 60 90 120 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Klark Klay

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 62 years in which either name was published, Klay for 59 years and Klark for 3 years. The lead changed hands 2 times.

Side by side

  Klark Klay
Total US births 1611,616
Most in one year 20103
Babies in 2025 584
Estimated living today 1601,600
Median age today 89
Peak year 20232022
Best rank 5,927th boys1,665th boys
Rank in 2025 12,008th1,867th
First recorded 19641958
Girls / boys 24 / 1370 / 1,616

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.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Klark and Klay.