Ladona vs Lady
American parents have registered 2,068 Ladys since 1880, against 721 Ladonas. Lady is still ahead, with 20 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Ladona Lady
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 139 years in which either name was published, Lady for 109 years and Ladona for 30 years. The lead changed hands 12 times.
- 1884–1948 Lady ahead, apart from one short spell
- 1949–1976 Ladona ahead, apart from one short spell
- 1981–2025 Lady ahead, apart from one short spell
7 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Ladona | Lady | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 721 | 2,068 |
| Most in one year | 24 | 48 |
| Babies in 2025 | under 5 | 20 |
| Estimated living today | 520 | 1,100 |
| Median age today | 60 | 28 |
| Peak year | 1970 | 2016 |
| Best rank | 2,856th girls | 3,326th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | unranked | 5,917th |
| First recorded | 1920 | 1884 |
| Girls / boys | 721 / 0 | 2,068 / 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 Ladonas alive today are over 60; half the Ladys are over 28. That is 32 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: Ladona and Lady.