Humanverse

Norbert vs Noreta

American parents have registered 20,385 Norberts since 1880, against 91 Noretas. Neither name reached five babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Norbert against Noreta, 1880 to 2025 0 200 400 600 800 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Norbert Noreta

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

Norbert has been the commoner name in every year either was published, 1885 to 2024. The lead has never changed hands.

The closest they came was 1937, when Norbert had 333 and Noreta had 52.

Side by side

  Norbert Noreta
Total US births 20,38591
Most in one year 63552
Babies in 2025 under 5under 5
Estimated living today 5,30030
Median age today 6888
Peak year 19241937
Best rank 212th boys964th girls
Rank in 2025 unrankedunranked
First recorded 18851935
Girls / boys 6 / 20,37991 / 0

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 Noretas alive today are over 88; half the Norberts are over 68. That is 20 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: Norbert and Noreta.