Methodology
Hushling is built to answer a practical question: how common will a baby name actually feel, once spelling variants and state differences are taken into account?
Where the data comes from
Hushling uses public baby-name data from the U.S. Social Security Administration. The SSA publishes annual national files and state files based on first names recorded on Social Security card applications.
The current public database includes national history from 1880 through 2024, plus latest-year state context for 2024. Hushling is independent and is not affiliated with the Social Security Administration.
What Hushling adds
Exact spelling history
We show the official SSA count and rank for the exact spelling of a name, by year and sex.
Combined spelling groups
We group common spelling variants, add their births together, and recompute ranks from the combined totals.
State context
We compare how often a name appears in each state with how often it appears nationally in the latest year.
Real-world estimates
We translate rates into rough classroom, grade, and school estimates so the numbers are easier to interpret.
Exact spelling vs. combined spelling
The official SSA rankings treat Sophia and Sofia, or Jackson and Jaxon, as separate names. That is useful if you care about one exact spelling.
Parents often care about how the name sounds in real life. For that reason, Hushling also creates combined spelling groups. A combined rank is not copied from the SSA list; it is recalculated after adding together the spellings in that group. All ranks remain sex-specific.
What belongs in a spelling group?
Groups are based on an internal variant map intended for spelling variants, not nicknames or related names. For example, nickname relationships such as Nicholas and Nick are not treated as simple spelling variants.
How state comparisons work
The state multiple compares a name's state rate with its national rate. A value of 2.0x means the name appears about twice as often in that state as it does nationally, after adjusting for the number of births.
State pages use filtered public tables so very rare names do not dominate the results just because of small numbers. The current state features are latest-year only; Hushling does not show historical state charts in this public version.
Important limits
- The SSA suppresses names with fewer than 5 births in a geography and year. This protects privacy, but it means some rare state spellings are missing.
- Because of that suppression, combined state counts can be lower bounds.
- National history is available across all years; state history is shown only for the latest public year in this version.
- Hushling's spelling groups are useful approximations, but name boundaries can be subjective.
- The site is for exploration and decision support, not a prediction of future popularity.
Methodology FAQ
Where does Hushling get baby-name data?
Hushling uses public U.S. Social Security Administration baby-name data, including national files and latest-year state files.
Why do Hushling ranks differ from official SSA ranks?
Official SSA ranks count exact spellings separately. Hushling also computes combined spelling groups, then recalculates ranks from grouped counts.
How should duplicate estimates be interpreted?
Duplicate estimates translate latest-year name rates into approximate classroom, grade, and school expectations. They are decision-support estimates, not predictions.
Is Hushling affiliated with the Social Security Administration?
No. Hushling is independent and uses public SSA data as an external source.