Humanverse

Nerissa vs Nery

American parents have registered 1,977 Nerissas since 1880, against 1,850 Nerys. But in 2025 it was Nery that was commoner, 25 babies to 9.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Nerissa against Nery, 1880 to 2025 0 60 120 180 240 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Nerissa Nery

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 78 years in which either name was published, Nerissa for 47 years and Nery for 31 years. The lead changed hands 9 times.

Side by side

  Nerissa Nery
Total US births 1,9771,850
Most in one year 73233
Babies in 2025 925
Estimated living today 1,9001,800
Median age today 4118
Peak year 19792007
Best rank 1,569th girls901st boys
Rank in 2025 10,107th4,139th
First recorded 19151961
Girls / boys 1,977 / 0287 / 1,563

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 Nerissas alive today are over 41; half the Nerys are over 18. That is 23 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Where each one is strongest

How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Nerissa and Nery.