Roberta vs Robertson
American parents have registered 172,330 Robertas since 1880, against 516 Robertsons. Roberta is still ahead, with 61 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Roberta Robertson
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
Roberta has been the commoner name in every year either was published, 1880 to 2025. The lead has never changed hands.
The closest they came was 2000, when Roberta had 66 and Robertson had 11.
Side by side
| Roberta | Robertson | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 172,330 | 516 |
| Most in one year | 4,310 | 16 |
| Babies in 2025 | 61 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 93,000 | 410 |
| Median age today | 70 | 40 |
| Peak year | 1953 | 1964 |
| Best rank | 90th girls | 2,040th boys |
| Rank in 2025 | 2,778th | unranked |
| First recorded | 1880 | 1916 |
| Girls / boys | 171,548 / 782 | 0 / 516 |
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 Robertas alive today are over 70; half the Robertsons are over 40. That is 30 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: Roberta and Robertson.