Humanverse

Nathan vs Natrone

American parents have registered 589,271 Nathans since 1880, against 35 Natrones. Nathan is still ahead, with 4,980 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Nathan against Natrone, 1880 to 2025 0 4k 8k 12k 16k 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Nathan Natrone

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

Nathan has been the commoner name in every year either was published, 1880 to 2025. The lead has never changed hands.

The closest they came was 1995, when Nathan had 10,325 and Natrone had 17.

Side by side

  Nathan Natrone
Total US births 589,27135
Most in one year 14,69617
Babies in 2025 4,980under 5
Estimated living today 540,00030
Median age today 2729
Peak year 20041995
Best rank 20th boys3,693rd boys
Rank in 2025 63rdunranked
First recorded 18801995
Girls / boys 1,774 / 587,4970 / 35

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 Natrones alive today are over 29; half the Nathans are over 27. That is 2 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: Nathan and Natrone.