Humanverse

Randolf vs Randy

American parents have registered 334,472 Randys since 1880, against 972 Randolfs. Randy is still ahead, with 198 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Randolf against Randy, 1880 to 2025 0 5k 10k 15k 20k 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Randolf Randy

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

Randy has been the commoner name in every year either was published, 1915 to 2025. The lead has never changed hands.

The closest they came was 1939, when Randolf had 9 and Randy had 137.

Side by side

  Randolf Randy
Total US births 972334,472
Most in one year 6216,740
Babies in 2025 under 5198
Estimated living today 720265,000
Median age today 6461
Peak year 19551956
Best rank 949th boys28th boys
Rank in 2025 unranked1,084th
First recorded 19391915
Girls / boys 0 / 9725,004 / 329,468

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 Randolfs alive today are over 64; half the Randys are over 61. That is 3 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: Randolf and Randy.