Does anyone the ranks of the sororities?
 

Does anyone actually know which sorority (has the most members) nationally? i've heard different things, but whenever rush comes around.. everyone claims they are the biggest sorority nationally.. so, i just wanted to find out which sorority is actually the biggest.

I always thought Delta Gamma was.

do a search on this topic and you'll find a million threads. The consensus is basically:

1. Depending on whether you're talking about number of initiated members, number of chapters, and a lot of other factors, the largest sorority can vary. Also, many NPHC groups are a lot bigger than NPC groups, and some non-collegiate sororities are very large too.

2. A lot of us on GC feel that discussing this topic (it comes up every month or so) is somewhat defeating our purpose, which is promoting pan-Greek feeling. It's not the size but the siblinghood that matters.

3. To get the information you want, I recommend you do a thread search and visit the websites of various national groups. :)

What a lovely answer, breathesgelatin! When I saw the title of this thread, I think I actually groaned out loud...

Ariesrising also has a site (although I am not computer savvy enough to post the link here! sorry!) that she put much time and effort into that has some stats according to active collegiate chapters and initiated members. And while many people say, "Wait, my org has 145 chapters, NOT 143!!!!!" A chapter here or there, and a few initiates here or there don't make that big of a difference! Her site is also nice because it has badges and other fun stuff!!! :D Do a search for her username and the link is in her signature.

I'm going to make the assumption that you are wondering about NPC sororities, since your name is DeltaGammaRocks so I will tell you that Tri Delta, Chi Omega, and Delta Zeta are definitely the frontrunners. Pi Beta Phi and Kappa Kappa Gamma and Zeta Tau Alpha also have tons of members too, relative to some of their NPC counterparts.

However, I can also tell you that in the NPHC category, AKA and DST are definitely up there in the numbers too.

And....there is also the non-collegiate sorority Beta Sigma Phi, who I think is way way way up there for numbers.

What's more, it is hard to say at any given moment, who has the largest number of members as people pass away, depledge, chapters are born, etc.

If you do a search, this topic has definitely been discussed once before, if not several times.

I don't want this to come out the wrong way, but does it really matter who has the most initiated members, the most active chapters, or the biggest number of alumni associations?

If I were a PNM, all that stuff wouldn't sway my choices. From what I've read Recruitment involves the PNM meeting the sisters and the sisters meeting the PNM and seeing if they "belong" together. So I just don't see why the most initiated members or chapters or whatever would have to do with it? :confused: I don't know.. just my opinion i suppose. :)

sowwie i didn't mean to get you guys all riled up.. , i'm kinda new to the forums so i didn't know it has already been discussed.. i was just curious about the numbers cause the chapters here on my campus are always trying to one-up each other (and i'm sure we do it too..) and i remember going through formal.. it was like almost every chapter said they were the biggest sorority nationally.. and all of us in my rush group were like wtf?? how can they all be the largest.... it's kinda like that pin on the moon thing... like 2 sororities claimed it was them.. and when the day was over, we were all like hmmm haha

Re: Does anyone the ranks of the sororities?
 

:) :) :)

Chi O!
 

Chi Omega is the largest women's organization in the nation next to the girl scouts

just 2 of the threads where this has been discussed
 

i'm sure if you do a search (in the group of buttons in the upper right of the page) and search for "largest AND sorority" (w/o the quotes) you'll probably find more.

http://greekchat.com/gcforums/showth...threadid=21312

http://greekchat.com/gcforums/showth...threadid=14667

The definitive list
 

Just found this in the newest edition of Beta's Pledge Manual, so I'll take the time to type it all out for a definitive list for nwo. Sorry that the post won't take my formatting...

Name (Chapters) Members
Acacia 30 44000
Alpha Chi Rho 50 30500
Alpha Delta Gamma 12 7400
Alpha Delta Phi 25 53400
Alpha Epsilon Pi 92 66473
Alpha Gamma Rho 62 53000
Alpha Gamma Sigma 7 4700
Alpha Kappa Lambda 33 21959
Alpha Phi Delta 41 15442
Alpha Sigma Phi 51 54000
Alpha Tau Omega 157 170500
Beta Sigma Psi 7 6651
Beta Theta Pi 126 167500
Chi Phi 60 50276
Chi Psi 31 50000
Delta Chi 117 75000
Delta Kappa Epsilon 67 80000
Delta Phi 15 15000
Delta Psi 10 7000
Delta Sigma Phi 110 105000
Delta Tau Delta 118 133576
Delta Upsilon 86 105622
FarmHouse 28 20310
Kappa Alpha Order 126 115000
Kappa Alpha Psi 364 100000
Kappa Alpha Society 11 8532
Kappa Delta Phi 12 21050
Kappat Delta Rho 45 20878
Kappa Sigma 224 200000
Lambda Chi Alpha 206 225000
Lambda Phi Epsilon 34 6000
Lambda Sigma Epsilon 20 600
Lambda Theta Phi 62 3212
Phi Delta Theta 175 201000
Phi Gamma Delta 128 139700
Phi Iota Alpha 53
Phi Kappa Psi 85 95000
Phi Kappa Sigma 68 48000
Phi Kappa Tau 86 74755
Phi Kappa Theta 55 52000
Phi Lambda Chi 9 7500
Phi Mu Delta 9 10800
Phi Sigma Kappa 98 110000
Phi Sigma Phi 8 3000
Pi Kappa Alpha 192 180000
Pi Kappa Phi 129 73327
Pi Lambda Phi 55 38243
Psi Upsilon 31 43000
Sigma Alpha Epsilon 208 246632
Sigma Alpha Mu 70 51516
Sigma Chi 228 232403
Sigma Lambda Beta 48 2500
Sigma Nu 210 195963
Sigma Phi 10 10165
Sigma Phi Epsilon 246 214970
Sigma Pi 123 71618
Sigma Tau Gamma 76 56793
Tau Delta Phi 6 18000
Tau Epsilon Phi 33 43313
Tau Kappa Epsilon 279 208600
Theta Chi 147 140997
Theta Delta Chi 34 38236
Theta Xi 52 57713
Triangle 32 21800
Zeta Beta Tau 70 118097
Zeta Psi 50 48191


Alpha Chi Omega 133 162929
Alpha Delta Pi 133 156500
Alpha Epsilon Phi 50 50000
Alpha Gamma Delta 173 123836
Alpha Omicron Pi 112 98849
Alpha Phi 147 129439
Alpha Sigma Alpha 74 53670
Alpha Sigma Tau 59 34205
Alpha Xi Delta 110 120000
Chi Omega 174 225000
Delta Delta Delta 130 162128
Delta Gamma 140 160000
Delta Phi Epsilon 80 26000
Delta Zeta 165 137813
Gamma Phi Beta 109 103688
Kappa Alpha Theta 124 170821
Kappa Kappa Gamma 120 150000
Phi Mu 132 131825
Phi Sigma Sigma 109 36600
Pi Beta Phi 128 180656
Sigma Delta Tau 59 40000
Sigma Kappa 113 117290
Sigma Sigma Sigma 104 77115
Theta Phi Alpha 30 14794
Zeta Tau Alpha 140 102407



Just to settle it Chi Omega has the most members and most chapters of any NPC sorority. I do know that a lot of the NPHC organizations have more chapters than ChiO though, not sure the numbers though b/c my pledge manual is still at school.
For Fraternities TKE has most chapters, and SAE most members.

Note to the Mods, how about a reference section on this board so that something like this list could be posted permanently?

Re: The definitive list
 

You left Kappa Delta off your list!

Lindsay :)

Re: The definitive list
 

Good idea!

FWIW, when I was a pledge, we were asked to know the top ten NPC sororities in size & number of chapters, with the stipulation that numbers can change drastically from year to year. I still feel that it's the best way of looking at things. A little modesty can go a long way. :)

honeychile

Re: Re: The definitive list
 

Yeah, I know, for whatever reason Kappa Delta wasn't included in the original list in the Beta Pledge Manual. Don't know why that is.

Like it's always mentioned...

We all know that numbers change and chapters open and close all the time, so although BetaRulz!'s numbers may be very very close, some of them are still a little off. I can't name exactly who, but just for everyone's information. And not that it's his fault or his nationals, but just so people can take into consideration, those numbers change all the time!

As for the whole "who's the biggest," and "who has the most chapters" thing- I agree with a lot of other posters: WHO CARES?! We all love our organizations for one reason or another and I'm sure if you asked any member on GC or off, why do you love your organization, they would reply something other than "because we have the most initiated members," or "because we have the most chapters." It's what really matters that counts.

I don't think people asked because they want to brag about how big or prestigious their group is, or anything like that -- I think they just want to know for the sake of knowing. It's fun trivia. I think we all agree with you that the size of an organization has very little to do with what kind of experience you can have with the group.

You know, if I was just visiting this site. . .just to be curious about sorority life. . .I think I would have been turned off(trust me, I used to be a Greek hater). Joining a sorority isn't about numbers. . .because you could have all the numbers in the world and still be the lowest on sisterhood. And we wonder why we can't recruit most non-Greeks.

Greek life isn't about competition. . .it's about finding your niche in a group of people who represent the same ideals as you have. A group that will cultivate you into the adult that you wish to be. A group that no matter the number. . .will always be something you hold dear to your heart.

F* the numbers!
Which group has the biggest heart and does more community service NOT because it's required but because they genuinely want to spend time with other people and each other making this world a better place to live.

Re: Chi O!
 

Not that it matters...but no-it's not. It may be the largest NPC organization. But it is not the largest womens organization next to the girl scouts. No offense-Chi O is awesome :) But I hate misinformation.

Re: Re: Chi O!
 

Any of you Chi O ladies care to comment on this? Blue Violet, can you prove your statement?

Re: Re: Re: Chi O!
 

Based on pure numbers of chapters, each of the four NPHC sororities has more chapters than Chi Omega does. AKA and DST each have over 900 chapters, I believe, where Chi O has around 175, give or take a few. I'm not sure how many chapters each of the other two NPHC sororities have, but I know it's more than Chi Omega.

Based on number of initiates, I believe Chi Omega is larger than any of the Divine Nine sororities. Chi Omega's website claims they have initiated 240,000 women; the largest of the NPHC sororities, Delta Sigma Theta, claims over 200,000 initiates. I'm not sure if this makes them the second-largest women's organization in the world or not though. There could be some group that is neither in the NPHC or NPC that tops Chi Omega before the Girl Scouts.

So depending on the criteria used to judge "the largest," maybe yes, maybe no.

SEARCH SEARCH SEARCH people. This has been discussed before.