Humanverse

Thu vs Thunder

American parents have registered 837 Thus since 1880, against 562 Thunders. But in 2025 it was Thunder that was commoner, 18 babies to fewer than five.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Thu against Thunder, 1880 to 2025 0 15 30 45 60 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Thu Thunder

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 51 years in which either name was published, Thu for 26 years and Thunder for 25 years. The lead changed hands 9 times.

Side by side

  Thu Thunder
Total US births 837562
Most in one year 5530
Babies in 2025 under 518
Estimated living today 820550
Median age today 3715
Peak year 19832018
Best rank 1,887th girls3,607th boys
Rank in 2025 unranked5,208th
First recorded 19751975
Girls / boys 832 / 50 / 562

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 Thus alive today are over 37; half the Thunders are over 15. That is 22 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: Thu and Thunder.