Head to head · Boys' names
Franklin vs Titus
#359 vs #358 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Titus is a whisker ahead (#358 vs #359 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Franklin leads 3 measures of 6; Titus leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Franklin #127, Titus #852 — Franklin higher
- 1890s: Franklin #157, Titus #958 — Franklin higher
- 1900s: Franklin #165, Titus #1056 — Franklin higher
- 1910s: Franklin #136, Titus #1208 — Franklin higher
- 1920s: Franklin #135, Titus #1379 — Franklin higher
- 1930s: Franklin #86, Titus #1401 — Franklin higher
- 1940s: Franklin #125, Titus #1403 — Franklin higher
- 1950s: Franklin #166, Titus #1242 — Franklin higher
- 1960s: Franklin #194, Titus #929 — Franklin higher
- 1970s: Franklin #232, Titus #812 — Franklin higher
- 1980s: Franklin #268, Titus #750 — Franklin higher
- 1990s: Franklin #351, Titus #864 — Franklin higher
- 2000s: Franklin #468, Titus #544 — Franklin higher
- 2010s: Franklin #464, Titus #320 — Titus higher
- 2020s: Franklin #395, Titus #362 — Titus higher
Franklin stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Titus has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Franklin | Titus |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #127 | #852 |
| 1890s | #157 | #958 |
| 1900s | #165 | #1056 |
| 1910s | #136 | #1208 |
| 1920s | #135 | #1379 |
| 1930s | #86 | #1401 |
| 1940s | #125 | #1403 |
| 1950s | #166 | #1242 |
| 1960s | #194 | #929 |
| 1970s | #232 | #812 |
| 1980s | #268 | #750 |
| 1990s | #351 | #864 |
| 2000s | #468 | #544 |
| 2010s | #464 | #320 |
| 2020s | #395 | #362 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Franklin
a free landholder
The word means a freeman holding land but not of noble rank, built on the same root as free with a French ending. The reading is settled and the social rank is well documented.
frankeleyn → Franklin
How it traveled
Chaucer's Franklin is wealthy, hospitable and slightly anxious about status. His table is described as standing ready all day, his larder stocked with partridge and pike, and the poet says it snowed meat and drink in his house.
Titus
Not established
Nobody has established what Titus meant. What is documented is its role: it was one of about eighteen praenomina in regular use in Rome, old enough by the classical period that Roman writers themselves no longer explained it. A connection to Latin titulus, 'inscription, title of honor', has been proposed, as has a Sabine origin, but neither is settled.
Titus (Roman praenomen) → Τίτος / Titos (Greek New Testament) → Titus (Latin Vulgate) → Titus (English)
How it traveled
Titus began as a Roman praenomen — a personal first name, in a culture that used very few of them — and appears in Latin records for as long as Latin records exist. It was carried by the emperor Titus, who ruled briefly at the end of the first century and completed the Colosseum begun by his father.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Franklin
FRANK-lin
Two syllables with the stress in front. Nothing in it invites hesitation.
- Frank — The commonest short form; a full name in its own right.
- Lin — The back of the name used alone; works for a child of either sex.
Titus
TY-tus
Stress on the first syllable, rhyming with 'righteous'. Classical Latin would have said TEE-toos, and the Italian and Spanish Tito keeps that vowel — worth knowing if the name will be heard in more than one language.
- Ty — The most common English short form, and a standalone given name in its own right.
- Tito — The Italian and Spanish form of the full name, used as an affectionate short form in Spanish-speaking families and independently as a given name.
- T — Informal, spoken rather than written; Romans themselves abbreviated the name to T. in inscriptions.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Franklin if you want…
- a name on the way upup 55 places on the charts in five years
Choose Titus if you want…
- a name holding steadyTitus is holding its place on the charts
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Franklin
Strengths
- The meaning is settled and documented, with a medieval social rank behind it.
- Frank is available as a short form from the first day and needs no explaining.
- It has an unbroken record in American use going back to the start of the statistics.
To consider
- Two American presidents and one founder carry the name, which is a great deal of association to arrive with.
- In America it reads as belonging to an older generation, which is either the appeal or the obstacle.
- This spelling goes overwhelmingly to boys but is recorded for girls as well, so a form will occasionally guess wrong.
Titus
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds in English, and short enough that a child can write it early.
- A documented record stretching from Roman inscriptions through the New Testament to the present, with no gap.
- Recognizable across Italian, Spanish, Polish and Greek in forms close enough to the English one.
To consider
- Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus is his most violent play. Most people won't make the connection, but it is the other famous Titus, and anyone who studied it will remember.
- The New Testament link is real and specific — a whole epistle bears the name. If a distinctly Christian reading isn't what you're after, it will still be the first association for some listeners.
- The -us ending is uncommon among American boys' names right now, so Titus stands somewhat apart from its classmates. That cuts both ways: little confusion, but he will spend a lifetime being the only one in the room.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Franklin and Titus in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Franklin and Titus?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- One-decade wonders
- Classics hiding in plain sight
- Eight-letter names with presence
- Names borrowed from scientists
- all guides
Where Franklin and Titus each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Franklin or Titus — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Franklin or Titus?
- Titus, in 2025: Titus ranked #358 with 910 babies; Franklin ranked #359 with 909 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Franklin or Titus?
- Franklin. Over the last five years Franklin moved up 55 places; Titus moved down 18 places.
- Which is the older name, Franklin or Titus?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Franklin and Titus?
- About 77,500 people named Franklin are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 25,500 people named Titus are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Franklins or Tituss in the classroom?
- Franklin will almost certainly be the only one in school. Titus will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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