Humanverse

Murel vs Murry

American parents have registered 3,179 Murrys since 1880, against 710 Murels. Neither name reached five babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Murel against Murry, 1880 to 2025 0 25 50 75 100 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Murel Murry

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

Murry has been the commoner name in every year either was published, 1882 to 2021. The lead has never changed hands.

The closest they came was 1892, when Murel had 5 and Murry had 8.

Side by side

  Murel Murry
Total US births 7103,179
Most in one year 3399
Babies in 2025 under 5under 5
Estimated living today 100950
Median age today 8268
Peak year 19311917
Best rank 1,538th boys612th boys
Rank in 2025 unrankedunranked
First recorded 18921882
Girls / boys 225 / 48594 / 3,085

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 Murels alive today are over 82; half the Murrys are over 68. That is 14 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: Murel and Murry.