Humanverse

Nan vs Nando

American parents have registered 10,274 Nans since 1880, against 41 Nandos. Neither name reached five babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Nan against Nando, 1880 to 2025 0 80 160 240 320 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Nan Nando

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 126 years in which either name was published, Nan for 122 years and Nando for 4 years. The lead changed hands once.

Side by side

  Nan Nando
Total US births 10,27441
Most in one year 2559
Babies in 2025 under 5under 5
Estimated living today 4,60040
Median age today 723
Peak year 19472023
Best rank 520th girls8,255th boys
Rank in 2025 unrankedunranked
First recorded 18801967
Girls / boys 10,274 / 00 / 41

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 Nans alive today are over 72; half the Nandos are over 3. That is 69 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: Nan and Nando.