Rowdy vs Rowena
American parents have registered 10,526 Rowenas since 1880, against 5,055 Rowdys. But in 2025 it was Rowdy that was commoner, 266 babies to 32.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Rowdy Rowena
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 146 years in which either name was published, Rowena for 104 years and Rowdy for 42 years. The lead changed hands once.
Side by side
| Rowdy | Rowena | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 5,055 | 10,526 |
| Most in one year | 266 | 224 |
| Babies in 2025 | 266 | 32 |
| Estimated living today | 4,900 | 4,500 |
| Median age today | 14 | 63 |
| Peak year | 2024 | 1917 |
| Best rank | 922nd boys | 429th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | 940th | 4,352nd |
| First recorded | 1959 | 1880 |
| Girls / boys | 75 / 4,980 | 10,526 / 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 Rowenas alive today are over 63; half the Rowdys are over 14. That is 49 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Rowdy Oklahoma (11.9×), Texas (5.2×), Idaho (3.7×)
- Rowena Hawaii (18.2×), Maine (5.9×), Oklahoma (3.6×)
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: Rowdy and Rowena.