Humanverse

Talbert vs Talmadge

American parents have registered 5,671 Talmadges since 1880, against 826 Talberts. Talmadge is still ahead, with 8 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Talbert against Talmadge, 1880 to 2025 0 50 100 150 200 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Talbert Talmadge

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

Talmadge has been the commoner name in every year either was published, 1886 to 2025. The lead has never changed hands.

The closest they came was 1910, when Talbert had 7 and Talmadge had 11.

Side by side

  Talbert Talmadge
Total US births 8265,671
Most in one year 18173
Babies in 2025 under 58
Estimated living today 3902,100
Median age today 6159
Peak year 19541933
Best rank 1,826th boys411th boys
Rank in 2025 unranked8,910th
First recorded 19101886
Girls / boys 0 / 82636 / 5,635

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 Talberts alive today are over 61; half the Talmadges are over 59. That is 2 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: Talbert and Talmadge.