Head to head · Girls' names
Adelyn vs Kamila
#355 vs #355 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Adelyn and Kamila share the same spot on the 2025 charts (#355). The records cannot split them; sound and story 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, Adelyn leads 3 measures of 6; Kamila leads 0.
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
- 1890s: Adelyn #1596, Kamila — — Adelyn higher
- 1900s: Adelyn #1714, Kamila — — Adelyn higher
- 1910s: Adelyn #1917, Kamila — — Adelyn higher
- 1920s: Adelyn #2545, Kamila — — Adelyn higher
- 1930s: Adelyn #3189, Kamila — — Adelyn higher
- 1940s: Adelyn #4045, Kamila — — Adelyn higher
- 1950s: Adelyn #5828, Kamila — — Adelyn higher
- 1960s: Adelyn —, Kamila #6403 — Kamila higher
- 1970s: Adelyn —, Kamila #5232 — Kamila higher
- 1980s: Adelyn #9184, Kamila #4988 — Kamila higher
- 1990s: Adelyn #4516, Kamila #3356 — Kamila higher
- 2000s: Adelyn #1433, Kamila #1240 — Kamila higher
- 2010s: Adelyn #239, Kamila #346 — Adelyn higher
- 2020s: Adelyn #293, Kamila #260 — Kamila higher
Adelyn stood higher in 8 of 14 decades; Kamila took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Adelyn | Kamila |
|---|---|---|
| 1890s | #1596 | — |
| 1900s | #1714 | — |
| 1910s | #1917 | — |
| 1920s | #2545 | — |
| 1930s | #3189 | — |
| 1940s | #4045 | — |
| 1950s | #5828 | — |
| 1960s | — | #6403 |
| 1970s | — | #5232 |
| 1980s | #9184 | #4988 |
| 1990s | #4516 | #3356 |
| 2000s | #1433 | #1240 |
| 2010s | #239 | #346 |
| 2020s | #293 | #260 |
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
Adelyn
noble
The root is the Germanic element adal, "noble" — the same element behind Adela, Adelaide and Adeline. Adelyn is a respelling of Adeline rather than a separate word, so it inherits that meaning.
Adal- → Adela → Adeline → Adelyn
How it traveled
The story starts with the Germanic name element adal, "noble", which fed a whole family of medieval names across the Frankish and German-speaking lands. From Adela came the French pet form Adeline, brought to England after the Norman Conquest and still in use there centuries later; the nineteenth century revived it, along with Adelaide, as part of a broad taste for old Continental names.
Kamila
Arabic: "complete, perfect"; Latin Camilla: origin uncertain
Two separate names meet at this spelling. The Arabic Kāmila comes from the root k-m-l, "completeness, perfection", and is the feminine of Kāmil. The Slavic Kamila comes from the Roman family name Camillus, whose own origin is not settled — it is often traced to Etruscan, and in Roman religious practice a camillus was a young attendant at sacrifices. Which meaning applies depends on which road a particular family came by, and both are entirely real.
Camillus → Camilla → Kamila
How it traveled
The Latin line begins with the Roman cognomen Camillus and its feminine Camilla, given lasting fame by Virgil in the Aeneid, where Camilla is the swift-footed warrior of the Volsci. From Latin the name spread through Italy and then north and east, settling into Czech, Polish and Slovak as Kamila, where it has been a standard given name for generations.
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
Adelyn
AD-uh-lin
Stress falls on the first syllable. Some families say the final syllable to rhyme with "line", following the older Adeline; either is understood, but it is worth deciding which you mean before the birth announcement.
- Addie — The long-established short form for the whole Adel- family; also given as a standalone name.
- Ada — Informal short form; stands on its own as a given name with its own long record.
- Lyn — Takes the second half instead of the first; also used independently, more often among older generations.
- Del — Less common, clipped and casual.
Kamila
kah-MEE-lah
This is the usual American reading. Polish and Czech speakers stress it differently — Czech puts the weight on the first syllable, KA-mi-la — so relatives abroad may say it their own way. Either is correct for the name.
- Kami — The most common informal short form in English-speaking use; also used on its own.
- Mila — Taken from the middle of the name; stands alone as an independent given name too, so it is a short form that can carry a whole life.
- Kam — Clipped and informal, mostly among friends and teammates.
- Kamcia — Standard Polish affectionate diminutive, used within families rather than formally.
- Also Milka.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Adelyn if you want…
On the measures here, the records do not separate Adelyn from Kamila.
Choose Kamila if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsKamila is stepping back from its peak
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
Adelyn
Strengths
- Carries a settled meaning — "noble" — from a Germanic root shared with Adela, Adelaide and Adeline.
- Comes with ready-made short forms in real use: Addie, Ada, Lyn.
- Recognizable in French, Italian, Spanish and German through Adeline, Adelina, Adela and Adelheid.
To consider
- The spelling is the sticking point. Adeline, Adalyn, Adalynn, Addilyn and Adelynn all coexist, so she will spell it aloud often, and mail will arrive in three versions.
- It sits inside a large cluster of -lyn names — Madelyn, Evelyn, Adalyn — so even as the only Adelyn, she may share a rhyme with several classmates.
- Almost everyone carrying this spelling is still a child, so for now it reads as a young person's name rather than one heard across all ages.
Kamila
Strengths
- Two ready-made short forms in real use, Kami and Mila, and Mila also works as a full name in its own right.
- Sits inside the well-known Camila/Camilla family, so the sound is familiar to most Americans even when the spelling is new to them.
- A documented line running back to Roman naming and Virgil's Aeneid, plus centuries of steady use in Polish and Czech.
To consider
- The K will need saying out loud for life. Camila and Camilla are both far better established in the United States, so expect forms to come back spelled with a C and a polite correction to follow.
- Its American wave is recent, so the name currently reads as belonging to children rather than adults — a fine thing, but worth knowing if you were hoping for something age-neutral.
- Because two unrelated names share this spelling, people will sometimes assume a heritage you may not have. That is easy to answer, and the double origin is one of the more interesting things about the 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 Adelyn and Kamila in full.
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Decide together
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
Where Adelyn and Kamila each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Adelyn or Kamila — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Adelyn or Kamila?
- They tie in 2025: Adelyn ranked #355 with 851 babies; Kamila ranked #355 with 851 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Adelyn or Kamila?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Adelyn moved down 117 places; Kamila moved down 141 places.
- Which is the older name, Adelyn or Kamila?
- Adelyn entered the US charts in 1899; Kamila entered the US charts in 1963. On the American record, Adelyn is the older name.
- How many people are named Adelyn and Kamila?
- About 23,000 people named Adelyn are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 20,000 people named Kamila are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Adelyns or Kamilas in the classroom?
- Adelyn will almost certainly be the only one in school. Kamila 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
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