Humanverse

Moss vs Mossie

American parents have registered 1,056 Mossies since 1880, against 519 Mosses. But in 2025 it was Moss that was commoner, 18 babies to fewer than five.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Moss against Mossie, 1880 to 2025 0 10 20 30 40 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Moss Mossie

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 102 years in which either name was published, Mossie for 64 years and Moss for 38 years. The lead changed hands 3 times.

Side by side

  Moss Mossie
Total US births 5191,056
Most in one year 2035
Babies in 2025 18under 5
Estimated living today 32090
Median age today 1482
Peak year 20231921
Best rank 4,886th boys1,341st girls
Rank in 2025 5,208thunranked
First recorded 18911884
Girls / boys 0 / 5191,051 / 5

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 Mossies alive today are over 82; half the Mosses are over 14. That is 68 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: Moss and Mossie.