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Novalee vs November

American parents have registered 4,567 Novalees since 1880, against 1,004 Novembers. Novalee is still ahead, with 261 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Novalee against November, 1880 to 2025 0 100 200 300 400 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Novalee November

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 49 years in which either name was published, Novalee for 29 years and November for 20 years. The lead changed hands 2 times.

Side by side

  Novalee November
Total US births 4,5671,004
Most in one year 37956
Babies in 2025 26137
Estimated living today 4,500990
Median age today 611
Peak year 20242020
Best rank 742nd girls2,890th girls
Rank in 2025 975th3,903rd
First recorded 19621971
Girls / boys 4,567 / 01,004 / 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 Novembers alive today are over 11; half the Novalees are over 6. That is 5 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: Novalee and November.