Zebadiah vs Zebulon
American parents have registered 2,149 Zebulons since 1880, against 1,112 Zebadiahs. But in 2025 it was Zebadiah that was commoner, 31 babies to 20.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Zebadiah Zebulon
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 70 years in which either name was published, Zebulon for 61 years and Zebadiah for 9 years. The lead changed hands 15 times.
- 1891–2021 Zebulon ahead, apart from 2 short spells
13 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Zebadiah | Zebulon | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 1,112 | 2,149 |
| Most in one year | 49 | 125 |
| Babies in 2025 | 31 | 20 |
| Estimated living today | 1,100 | 2,000 |
| Median age today | 24 | 33 |
| Peak year | 2001 | 1979 |
| Best rank | 2,117th boys | 775th boys |
| Rank in 2025 | 3,583rd | 4,857th |
| First recorded | 1974 | 1891 |
| Girls / boys | 0 / 1,112 | 0 / 2,149 |
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 Zebulons alive today are over 33; half the Zebadiahs are over 24. That is 9 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: Zebadiah and Zebulon.