Head to head · Girls' names
Addison vs Audrey
#84 vs #86 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Addison is a whisker ahead (#84 vs #86 in 2025) and both are stepping back from its peak. 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, Addison leads 3 measures of 6; Audrey 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: Addison —, Audrey #444 — Audrey higher
- 1890s: Addison —, Audrey #285 — Audrey higher
- 1900s: Addison —, Audrey #190 — Audrey higher
- 1910s: Addison —, Audrey #133 — Audrey higher
- 1920s: Addison —, Audrey #76 — Audrey higher
- 1930s: Addison —, Audrey #72 — Audrey higher
- 1940s: Addison —, Audrey #138 — Audrey higher
- 1950s: Addison —, Audrey #158 — Audrey higher
- 1960s: Addison —, Audrey #194 — Audrey higher
- 1970s: Addison —, Audrey #252 — Audrey higher
- 1980s: Addison #5238, Audrey #186 — Audrey higher
- 1990s: Addison #913, Audrey #159 — Audrey higher
- 2000s: Addison #133, Audrey #78 — Audrey higher
- 2010s: Addison #25, Audrey #42 — Addison higher
- 2020s: Addison #60, Audrey #72 — Addison higher
Audrey stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Addison has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Addison | Audrey |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #444 |
| 1890s | — | #285 |
| 1900s | — | #190 |
| 1910s | — | #133 |
| 1920s | — | #76 |
| 1930s | — | #72 |
| 1940s | — | #138 |
| 1950s | — | #158 |
| 1960s | — | #194 |
| 1970s | — | #252 |
| 1980s | #5238 | #186 |
| 1990s | #913 | #159 |
| 2000s | #133 | #78 |
| 2010s | #25 | #42 |
| 2020s | #60 | #72 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Addison
- Canada#100
Audrey
- Canada#59
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Addison
Son of Adam
Addy (or Adde) was a medieval English pet form of Adam, and -son marked descent. Adam itself comes from Hebrew adam, tied to adamah, "earth, ground."
Adam → Addy → Addison (surname) → Addison (given name)
How it traveled
The name is a patronymic surname from medieval England, formed the same way as Jackson, Harrison and Dawson — a father's pet name plus -son. It served as a family name for centuries, including for the essayist and the physician whose names still appear in English letters and medicine.
Audrey
noble strength
The Old English original joins a word for noble to one for strength. The modern form preserves almost none of the letters, which is a large part of why it survived.
Aethelthryth → Etheldreda → Audrey
How it traveled
The woman behind it made two political marriages and kept out of both. Aethelthryth was a princess of East Anglia, married first to a local king and then to a much younger Northumbrian one, and by her own account and her biographer's she remained a virgin through both; when the second husband changed his mind about the arrangement, she left, walked to Ely, and founded a monastery on land she had been given as a marriage settlement.
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
Addison
AD-ih-sun
Stress on the first syllable. The middle vowel is a light, quick one, and most American speakers say it the same way on first sight.
- Addie — The standard short form, and a given name in its own right in the United States since the nineteenth century.
- Addy — Same sound, informal spelling; common in family and school use.
- Addi — A shorter written variant, mostly informal and written rather than spoken differently.
- Sonny — Rare, drawn from the second half of the name; family-only in practice.
Audrey
AW-dree
Two syllables with the weight at the front. French says it the same way, which is unusual for a name that crosses the Channel.
- Aud — Cut to one syllable; used inside families, and shared with the Norse name Audr.
- Dree — Cut from the back; a modern informal form.
- Auds — A modern informal form used among friends.
Who has carried each name
Addison
Addison Rae (b. 2000) — TikTok star turned pop singer and actress
Audrey
Audrey Hepburn (b. 1929) — Breakfast at Tiffany's icon and devoted UNICEF ambassador
Audrey Tautou (b. 1976) — Star of the beloved French film Amélie
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 Addison if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsAddison is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itAddison runs 3 syllables, Audrey 2
Choose Audrey if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesAudrey is 2 syllables to Addison's 3
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
Addison
Strengths
- Reads correctly on sight for English speakers — no pronunciation lesson needed at a new school or a new job.
- Comes with Addie, a short form with its own long record as an independent American given name.
- Follows a pattern people already know from Harrison, Madison and Jackson, so it never needs explaining as a name.
To consider
- Addyson, Addisyn and Adison all circulate, so an Addison will spend some of her life spelling it out and correcting forms.
- The name's rise and gentle decline are recent and steep, which tends to tie it to a particular stretch of years the way Debbie or Tiffany are tied to theirs.
- A hormonal disorder carries the surname of a nineteenth-century physician named Addison. Most people never make the connection, but medical settings occasionally do.
Audrey
Strengths
- Everyone can spell it and say it on first hearing in English and in French.
- It has a documented English history reaching back to the seventh century.
- It is short, has no silent letters and needs no explanation.
To consider
- The word tawdry comes from this name, and someone will eventually mention it.
- It is currently very popular, so a child may share it with others.
- The spelling is recorded for a small number of boys, though it reads overwhelmingly as a girl's name.
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 Addison and Audrey 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 Addison and Audrey?
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
- Distinctly American names
- America's top 100 names right now
- Vowel names: soft starts from A to O
- Generation Alpha names (born 2013 onward)
- all guides
Every list here names both Addison and Audrey — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Addison or Audrey — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Addison or Audrey?
- Addison, in 2025: Addison ranked #84 with 2,971 babies; Audrey ranked #86 with 2,919 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Addison or Audrey?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Addison moved down 37 places; Audrey moved down 26 places.
- Which is the older name, Addison or Audrey?
- Addison entered the US charts in 1980; Audrey entered the US charts in 1881. On the American record, Audrey is the older name.
- How many people are named Addison and Audrey?
- About 148,000 people named Addison are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 213,000 people named Audrey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Addisons or Audreys in the classroom?
- Addison will almost certainly be the only one in school. Audrey 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 Addison, Audrey and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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