Humanverse

Rochel vs Rockney

American parents have registered 4,023 Rochels since 1880, against 109 Rockneys. Rochel is still ahead, with 147 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Rochel against Rockney, 1880 to 2025 0 40 80 120 160 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Rochel Rockney

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 80 years in which either name was published, Rochel for 73 years and Rockney for 7 years. The lead changed hands 7 times.

Side by side

  Rochel Rockney
Total US births 4,023109
Most in one year 14713
Babies in 2025 147under 5
Estimated living today 3,90070
Median age today 1870
Peak year 20251949
Best rank 1,458th girls2,123rd boys
Rank in 2025 1,458thunranked
First recorded 19471943
Girls / boys 4,023 / 00 / 109

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 Rockneys alive today are over 70; half the Rochels are over 18. That is 52 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: Rochel and Rockney.