Head to head · Girls' names
Ada vs Jane
#219 vs #221 in 2025
Ada is a whisker ahead (#219 vs #221 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Ada is stepping back from its peak, Jane is back after a long quiet spell. On momentum, Jane has the edge.
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, Ada leads 3 measures of 6; Jane 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: Ada #44, Jane #100 — Ada higher
- 1890s: Ada #58, Jane #118 — Ada higher
- 1900s: Ada #79, Jane #137 — Ada higher
- 1910s: Ada #110, Jane #75 — Jane higher
- 1920s: Ada #158, Jane #55 — Jane higher
- 1930s: Ada #207, Jane #47 — Jane higher
- 1940s: Ada #297, Jane #41 — Jane higher
- 1950s: Ada #429, Jane #50 — Jane higher
- 1960s: Ada #577, Jane #103 — Jane higher
- 1970s: Ada #768, Jane #281 — Jane higher
- 1980s: Ada #965, Jane #325 — Jane higher
- 1990s: Ada #1143, Jane #392 — Jane higher
- 2000s: Ada #831, Jane #431 — Jane higher
- 2010s: Ada #380, Jane #319 — Jane higher
- 2020s: Ada #189, Jane #265 — Ada higher
Jane stood higher in 11 of 15 decades; Ada took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Ada | Jane |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #44 | #100 |
| 1890s | #58 | #118 |
| 1900s | #79 | #137 |
| 1910s | #110 | #75 |
| 1920s | #158 | #55 |
| 1930s | #207 | #47 |
| 1940s | #297 | #41 |
| 1950s | #429 | #50 |
| 1960s | #577 | #103 |
| 1970s | #768 | #281 |
| 1980s | #965 | #325 |
| 1990s | #1143 | #392 |
| 2000s | #831 | #431 |
| 2010s | #380 | #319 |
| 2020s | #189 | #265 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Ada
- England & Wales#40
- Scotland#51
Jane
Not charting outside the US.
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Ada
"noble" (Germanic) or "adornment" (Hebrew)
Two separate roads end at the same three letters. The English Ada is usually traced to the Germanic element adal, "noble" — the same element behind Adelaide and Adeline, of which Ada began as a short form. Independently, Adah is a Hebrew name meaning "adornment" or "ornament", borne by two women in Genesis, and that spelling has fed the name too. Neither reading cancels the other; families have used both.
Adalheidis → Adelheid → Adelaide → Ada
How it traveled
Ada began life as a nickname doing a big job: a short handle for the weighty Germanic compounds starting with adal, "noble" — Adalheidis, which became Adelheid in German and Adelaide in English and French. By the early nineteenth century it had cut loose and was being given on its own, helped along by its resemblance to the biblical Adah.
Jane
God is gracious
The English feminine of John, arriving through the French Jehanne. The Hebrew behind it is a short sentence about God showing favor. The name has been in continuous English use since the Middle Ages and has been through at least three periods of being extremely common and one long quiet spell.
Iohanna → Jehanne → Jane
How it traveled
The most famous Jane published anonymously and her name only appeared after she died. Jane Austen's novels came out as by a lady, and then as by the author of the previous one, which was the ordinary arrangement for a woman writing fiction; her brother put her name on the last two after her death, along with a notice explaining who she had been.
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
Ada
AY-duh
Standard in English. In German, Italian, Polish and Turkish the first vowel is open — AH-dah — so relatives abroad may say it differently, and both are correct in their own place.
- Addie — The usual informal shortening in American English; also stands alone as a given name and serves Adelaide, Addison and Adeline.
- Ada — Already a short form itself — in Poland and Germany it is often the everyday name for a formal Adelajda or Adelheid.
- Adie — A less common spelling of the same short form, used in family settings.
Jane
JAYN
One syllable. The silent e lengthens the vowel before it, which is the classic English use of a final e and one of the few places in the language where it is completely regular.
- Janey — The name softened; warm and slightly old-fashioned.
- Jenny — The traditional English pet form of this name, not of Jennifer, which is unrelated.
- Jay — Built from the initial; unisex, brisk and completely modern.
Who has carried each name
Ada
Ada Lovelace (b. 1815) — Wrote the first computer program — in 1843
Ada Yonath (b. 1939) — Nobel Prize-winning chemist
Jane
Jane Austen (b. 1775) — Wrote Pride and Prejudice
Jane Goodall (b. 1934) — Revolutionized our understanding of chimpanzees
Jane Fonda (b. 1937) — Two-time Oscar winner and lifelong activist
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Ada if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsAda is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itAda runs 2 syllables, Jane 1
- a name that charts abroad tooAda is on the national lists of England & Wales and Scotland
Choose Jane if you want…
- a name on the way upup 42 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesJane is 1 syllable to Ada's 2
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
Ada
Strengths
- Three letters, no silent parts, and a spelling almost nobody needs to hear twice.
- Familiar in the US and still charting in England and Wales and in Scotland, so it crosses borders without adjustment.
- An unbroken record in English from the nineteenth century onward, without ever becoming a name every classroom has.
To consider
- In American writing, the letters ADA belong to the Americans with Disabilities Act and the American Dental Association. It rarely causes real confusion in speech, but it does mean the name shares its shape with some very official acronyms.
- Said quickly, Ada can be heard as Ava, Ida or Ana — and Ava in particular is common enough right now that mishearings will happen. Most people get it on the second try.
- The name sits with older generations as much as with young children: an Ada today may find that the other Adas she meets are several decades her senior. That gap is closing, but slowly.
Jane
Strengths
- One syllable, four letters, and nothing that can possibly be got wrong.
- It has been in continuous English use for six hundred years without ever sounding invented.
- Jenny is a genuine pet form of it, which most people no longer realize.
To consider
- The record carries it for boys in small numbers, so it is not quite an absolute signal.
- The associations with plainness and with anonymous bodies are both live in English.
- A one-syllable name gives nothing to shorten and no formal version to grow into.
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 Ada and Jane 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 Ada and Jane?
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 that carry both names
Every list here names both Ada and Jane — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Ada or Jane — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Ada or Jane?
- Ada, in 2025: Ada ranked #219 with 1,401 babies; Jane ranked #221 with 1,380 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Ada or Jane?
- Jane. Over the last five years Ada moved down 34 places; Jane moved up 42 places.
- Which is the older name, Ada or Jane?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Ada and Jane?
- About 39,500 people named Ada are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 215,000 people named Jane are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Adas or Janes in the classroom?
- Ada will almost certainly be the only one in school. Jane will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Ada, Jane and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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