Head to head · Girls' names
Adeline vs Alice
#59 vs #65 in 2025
Adeline is a whisker ahead (#59 vs #65 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Adeline is climbing the charts fast, Alice is holding its place on the charts.
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, Adeline leads 3 measures of 6; Alice 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: Adeline #195, Alice #11 — Alice higher
- 1890s: Adeline #204, Alice #14 — Alice higher
- 1900s: Adeline #189, Alice #11 — Alice higher
- 1910s: Adeline #170, Alice #12 — Alice higher
- 1920s: Adeline #205, Alice #16 — Alice higher
- 1930s: Adeline #358, Alice #25 — Alice higher
- 1940s: Adeline #610, Alice #42 — Alice higher
- 1950s: Adeline #1053, Alice #86 — Alice higher
- 1960s: Adeline #1612, Alice #150 — Alice higher
- 1970s: Adeline #2381, Alice #241 — Alice higher
- 1980s: Adeline #2178, Alice #328 — Alice higher
- 1990s: Adeline #1552, Alice #404 — Alice higher
- 2000s: Adeline #561, Alice #387 — Alice higher
- 2010s: Adeline #173, Alice #102 — Alice higher
- 2020s: Adeline #79, Alice #67 — Alice higher
Alice stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Adeline | Alice |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #195 | #11 |
| 1890s | #204 | #14 |
| 1900s | #189 | #11 |
| 1910s | #170 | #12 |
| 1920s | #205 | #16 |
| 1930s | #358 | #25 |
| 1940s | #610 | #42 |
| 1950s | #1053 | #86 |
| 1960s | #1612 | #150 |
| 1970s | #2381 | #241 |
| 1980s | #2178 | #328 |
| 1990s | #1552 | #404 |
| 2000s | #561 | #387 |
| 2010s | #173 | #102 |
| 2020s | #79 | #67 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Adeline
- Canada#86
Alice
- France#10
- Canada#12
- England & Wales#49
- Scotland#52
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Adeline
Noble
From the Germanic element adal, "noble", the same root behind Adele, Adelaide and Alice. Adeline is the French diminutive form of that root — roughly "little noble one".
adal (Germanic element, "noble") → Adela → Adèle → Adeline
How it traveled
The root is Frankish and Germanic: adal, noble, an element that fed dozens of early medieval names. Old French turned Adele into the affectionate Adeline, and Norman speakers carried it across the Channel after 1066, where it settled into English records alongside its cousins Adela and Adelaide.
Alice
of a noble kind
Both Germanic elements are well attested and the chain of forms from the compound to the modern name is documented at every stage. What is gone is any way of seeing that from the name as it now stands.
Adalheidis → Adelais → Aalis → Alice
How it traveled
One woman carrying it changed what a short story could be asked to do. She wrote almost nothing but stories across a working life of half a century, set nearly all of them in small towns in southwestern Ontario, and built them so that a paragraph could contain forty years and a marriage could turn on a sentence somebody almost said.
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
Adeline
AD-uh-line
AD-uh-line, rhyming with "line", is the usual American reading. AD-uh-leen is also common and is closer to the French. Both are correct; you will simply be choosing one and repeating it.
- Addie — The standard informal short form in American use for well over a century; also given on its own, and shared with Addison and Adelaide.
- Ada — Long established as a full given name in its own right, and used as a short form here.
- Lina — Takes the back half of the name; stands alone as a given name in Italian, German and Arabic-speaking families.
- Della — An older short form, historically tied to Adeline and Adela; independently used as a given name among earlier generations.
- Also Adie.
Alice
AL-iss
Two syllables with the stress at the front. French says it in two as well, with the weight at the back, which English speakers rarely attempt.
- Ali — The front alone; short, current and completely unisex.
- Elsie — Reached by sound from the ending; a standing name in its own right.
- Allie — An affectionate ending; warm and firmly informal.
Who has carried each name
Adeline
No documented entry for Adeline yet.
Alice
Alice Munro (b. 1931) — Nobel laureate, master of the short story
Alice Walker (b. 1944) — The Color Purple author, first Black woman to win the fiction Pulitzer
Alice Paul (b. 1885) — Suffragist who wrote the Equal Rights Amendment
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 Adeline if you want…
- a name on the way upup 40 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itAdeline runs 3 syllables, Alice 2
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Addie, Ada and Lina
- a name that feels very nowAdeline is climbing the charts fast
Choose Alice if you want…
- a name holding steadyAlice is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesAlice is 2 syllables to Adeline's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooAlice is on the national lists of France, Canada, England & Wales and Scotland
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 55% for Adeline
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
Adeline
Strengths
- Short forms are already in place and need no explaining — Addie, Ada, Lina, Della — so the name flexes from formal to casual without effort.
- A documented line running from medieval French through nineteenth-century revival to the present, unbroken in English-language records.
- Recognizable in French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese in nearly the same shape, and charting in Canada as well as the US.
To consider
- Two pronunciations circulate, -line and -leen, so expect to correct people occasionally for life. Choosing early and saying it consistently does most of the work.
- It sits in a crowded field: Adalyn, Adelyn, Adaline, Adelaide and Madeline all sound close, and forms get confused on paperwork.
- The name is rising quickly. It is uncommon in a classroom now, but a child born this year may meet more of them than the current picture suggests.
Alice
Strengths
- It is recognized across Europe with almost no change of spelling.
- It has been in continuous use since the medieval period without interruption.
- The spelling is short, unambiguous and never needs repeating.
To consider
- It is currently fashionable again, so a child may not be the only one.
- The meaning is entirely invisible without explanation.
- The record holds a few boys as well, and the boy is much the smaller side.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Adeline
55%chance Adeline feels dated by 2040
Adeline is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
Alice
12%chance Alice feels dated by 2040
Alice has held the top-100 across 9 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
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 Adeline and Alice 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 Adeline and Alice?
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 Adeline and Alice — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Adeline or Alice — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Adeline or Alice?
- Adeline, in 2025: Adeline ranked #59 with 3,864 babies; Alice ranked #65 with 3,547 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Adeline or Alice?
- Adeline. Over the last five years Adeline moved up 40 places; Alice moved up 11 places.
- Which is the older name, Adeline or Alice?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Adeline and Alice?
- About 53,000 people named Adeline are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 220,000 people named Alice are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Adelines or Alices in the classroom?
- Adeline will almost certainly be the only one in school. Alice 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 Adeline, Alice and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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