Humanverse

Novalynn vs Novella

American parents have registered 6,272 Novellas since 1880, against 865 Novalynns. But in 2025 it was Novalynn that was commoner, 116 babies to 69.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Novalynn against Novella, 1880 to 2025 0 50 100 150 200 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Novalynn Novella

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 140 years in which either name was published, Novella for 131 years and Novalynn for 9 years. The lead changed hands once.

Side by side

  Novalynn Novella
Total US births 8656,272
Most in one year 116186
Babies in 2025 11669
Estimated living today 8602,400
Median age today 456
Peak year 20251923
Best rank 1,747th girls513th girls
Rank in 2025 1,747th2,542nd
First recorded 20111882
Girls / boys 865 / 06,272 / 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 Novellas alive today are over 56; half the Novalynns are over 4. That is 52 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: Novalynn and Novella.