Humanverse

Romelia vs Romona

American parents have registered 5,175 Romonas since 1880, against 1,623 Romelias. But in 2025 it was Romelia that was commoner, 6 babies to 5.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

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

Romelia Romona

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 115 years in which either name was published, Romona for 85 years and Romelia for 30 years. The lead changed hands 13 times.

8 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.

Side by side

  Romelia Romona
Total US births 1,6235,175
Most in one year 34148
Babies in 2025 65
Estimated living today 1,1003,400
Median age today 5363
Peak year 19541955
Best rank 1,769th girls788th girls
Rank in 2025 13,208th14,942nd
First recorded 19121908
Girls / boys 1,623 / 05,175 / 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 Romonas alive today are over 63; half the Romelias are over 53. That is 10 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: Romelia and Romona.