Humanverse

Magnolia vs Magnum

American parents have registered 23,403 Magnolias since 1880, against 272 Magnums. Magnolia is still ahead, with 2,233 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Magnolia against Magnum, 1880 to 2025 0 600 1.2k 1.8k 2.4k 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Magnolia Magnum

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 146 years in which either name was published, Magnolia for 145 years and Magnum for 1 year. The lead changed hands 2 times.

Side by side

  Magnolia Magnum
Total US births 23,403272
Most in one year 2,23317
Babies in 2025 2,233under 5
Estimated living today 19,000270
Median age today 420
Peak year 20252008
Best rank 124th girls5,249th boys
Rank in 2025 124thunranked
First recorded 18801981
Girls / boys 23,403 / 00 / 272

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 Magnums alive today are over 20; half the Magnolias are over 4. That is 16 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: Magnolia and Magnum.