Guess the baby name from nearly 150 years of its popularity.
The top 100 boys' and top 100 girls' names in the US Social Security Administration's records, ranked by how big they ever got. Every one covers the same span, 1880 to 2024, so the length of a strip never gives anything away.
Where the colour starts is the answer, more often than not. Linda arrives after the war and leaves by the seventies. John is dark from the very first band. Jennifer is a single bright spike.
What one band is. One band is one year — every third year from 1880 to 2024, 49 bands in all. Pale blush means the name was rare that year, deep plum means it was one of the most popular names in America.
- 200names
- 49bands in this example
- Freeforever
What it looks like
A real Baby Names strip.
Drawn by the app’s own code, in its own colours. The four answers — and whether you are right — are in the app.
Baby Names
One name, every third year, as a share of babies born.
- Rare
- Common
- Everywhere
Can you name it? 49 bands, four answers — in the app.
Name it in the appFree categoryHow to read it
Three things to look for.
You do not need to remember the data. You need to know what kind of shape the thing you are thinking of would make.
- Find the peak.Most names have one decade where they were everywhere. Place that decade and the four options usually split.
- Read the empty bands.A run of near-white at the start means the name barely existed yet — a sign of a modern name.
- Think in generations.A name that peaks around 1950 belongs to grandparents now. One that peaks around 1990 belongs to people in their thirties.
Baby Names is free forever. Every name in it is playable in the app without buying anything.
Download on the App StoreFree on iPhoneBaby Names questions
Is Baby Names free?
Yes. Baby Names is free forever in the Huezle app — every name in it, with nothing to unlock. So is the daily puzzle.
Why every third year?
It keeps every strip to 49 bands — about the size of a basketball game — while a name's rise and fall still plays out clearly over decades.
Why is a band almost white?
Either the name was very rare that year, or the SSA withheld the figure because fewer than five babies were given it. Both mean "rare".
Source: Baby name data from the U.S. Social Security Administration (public domain).
Play every Baby Names strip in the app.
Huezle is free on iPhone. A new puzzle every day, four categories free forever, and no account, ads or timer.