Head to head · Girls' names
Adelynn vs Alma
#447 vs #449 in 2025
Adelynn is a whisker ahead (#447 vs #449 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Adelynn is stepping back from its peak, Alma is back after a long quiet spell. On momentum, Alma 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, Alma leads 4 measures of 6; Adelynn 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: Adelynn —, Alma #70 — Alma higher
- 1890s: Adelynn —, Alma #53 — Alma higher
- 1900s: Adelynn —, Alma #56 — Alma higher
- 1910s: Adelynn —, Alma #68 — Alma higher
- 1920s: Adelynn —, Alma #91 — Alma higher
- 1930s: Adelynn —, Alma #129 — Alma higher
- 1940s: Adelynn —, Alma #188 — Alma higher
- 1950s: Adelynn —, Alma #275 — Alma higher
- 1960s: Adelynn —, Alma #374 — Alma higher
- 1970s: Adelynn —, Alma #384 — Alma higher
- 1980s: Adelynn —, Alma #401 — Alma higher
- 1990s: Adelynn #9626, Alma #428 — Alma higher
- 2000s: Adelynn #2533, Alma #628 — Alma higher
- 2010s: Adelynn #387, Alma #727 — Adelynn higher
- 2020s: Adelynn #390, Alma #489 — Adelynn higher
Alma stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Adelynn has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Adelynn | Alma |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #70 |
| 1890s | — | #53 |
| 1900s | — | #56 |
| 1910s | — | #68 |
| 1920s | — | #91 |
| 1930s | — | #129 |
| 1940s | — | #188 |
| 1950s | — | #275 |
| 1960s | — | #374 |
| 1970s | — | #384 |
| 1980s | — | #401 |
| 1990s | #9626 | #428 |
| 2000s | #2533 | #628 |
| 2010s | #387 | #727 |
| 2020s | #390 | #489 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Adelynn
Not charting outside the US.
Alma
- France#4
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Adelynn
noble
The root is Germanic adal, "noble", behind Adela and Adele; the French diminutive -ine gave Adeline, roughly "little noble one". The -lynn spelling is a modern English reshaping of that ending rather than a separate element of meaning.
Adal → Adela → Adèle → Adeline → Adelynn
How it traveled
The oldest layer is the Germanic adal, "noble", which produced Adela and Adele among the Frankish and German nobility of the early Middle Ages. French added its diminutive ending to make Adeline, and Norman speakers carried that form into England after the Conquest, where it stayed in use for centuries before fading and reviving again in the Victorian period.
Alma
"Nourishing, kind" in Latin; "soul" in Spanish and Portuguese
Alma is one spelling that several languages arrived at independently, which is why no single reading wins. Latin almus, feminine alma, means "nourishing" or "kind" and survives in alma mater, "nourishing mother." In Spanish, Portuguese and poetic Italian, alma is simply the word for soul. In Turkic languages, including Crimean Tatar, alma means apple — the same word behind Hungarian alma. Hebrew almah, "young woman," is a separate word that the name has been attached to in Jewish families. All of these are real; none cancels the others.
almus (Latin, "nourishing") → alma (Latin feminine; Spanish and Portuguese "soul") → Alma
How it traveled
The Latin adjective almus, "nourishing," was applied to goddesses and later to universities, giving the phrase alma mater. Quite separately, Spanish and Portuguese inherited alma as the plain word for soul, and Turkic languages carried an unrelated alma meaning apple — the source of the river Alma in Crimea.
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
Adelynn
AD-uh-lin
Stress on the first syllable, with a light final syllable. Adeline is said both AD-uh-line and AD-uh-leen; the -lynn spelling steers people to the -lin ending, which is part of why it exists.
- Addie — The long-standing short form for the whole Adeline–Adelaide–Addison group; also given as a standalone name.
- Addy — Same nickname, spelled to match the double-d of the parent name.
- Lynn — Draws on the back half of the spelling; a full given name in its own right and still common among older generations.
- Ada — Trims to the first syllables; independently used as a formal given name.
- Also Del.
Alma
AL-muh
Stress on the first syllable. Spanish and Portuguese speakers say AHL-mah, with a fuller first vowel; both are the same name, and neither needs correcting.
- Al — The main short form in English-speaking households; informal, and also a short form of several men's names.
- Allie — Informal; shared with Alice, Allison and Alexandra, and used as a standalone given name too.
- Almita — Spanish diminutive, used affectionately within families rather than as a public name.
- Ally — Spelling variant of Allie, informal, more common among younger speakers.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Adelynn if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsAdelynn is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itAdelynn runs 3 syllables, Alma 2
- a newer arrivalAdelynn entered the US charts in 1990
Choose Alma if you want…
- a name on the way upup 111 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesAlma is 2 syllables to Adelynn's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooAlma is on the national lists of France
- a long American recordAlma was already in use when US records began in 1880
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
Adelynn
Strengths
- Addie is an established short form with centuries behind it, shared with Adeline and Adelaide, so a nickname is ready-made.
- The spelling tells English speakers how to say the ending, which the -ine spelling does not.
- Close cousins exist in French, German, Italian, Spanish and Polish, so the name is recognizable well beyond English.
To consider
- Adelyn, Adalyn, Adalynn, Addilyn and Adeline are all in circulation, so this exact spelling will need saying aloud and confirming — on forms, at the doctor's office, in email signatures — for life.
- Taken together, the -lyn names are far more common than any single spelling of them, so a child may well share a playground with an Adalynn or an Evelyn and be told they nearly have the same name.
- The wave behind this spelling is very recent, so it reads as a name of the current moment rather than an inherited one; the underlying Adeline is the version with the long record, if that matters to you.
Alma
Strengths
- Spelled the same way in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Hungarian and Bosnian — no adjusting for grandparents or passports.
- Two syllables and entirely phonetic; almost no one will need it spelled out twice.
- On record in the United States since the earliest years of national name statistics, and never fully out of use since.
To consider
- To Spanish and Portuguese speakers, Alma is not an opaque name but a familiar word — soul. Whether that lands as lovely or as a little literal depends entirely on the family.
- Most Almas in the United States today are well into later life, so some ears will place the name a couple of generations back before they place it as new again.
- It sits close to Alba, Elma and Ilma, and over the phone the first vowel occasionally gets misheard. A single repeat usually fixes it.
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 Adelynn and Alma 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
- Vintage names making a comeback
- Grandmother-chic: 1920s names ready to return
- France's favorites still rare in America
- Victorian names ready for a second century
- all guides
Where Adelynn and Alma each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Adelynn or Alma — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Adelynn or Alma?
- Adelynn, in 2025: Adelynn ranked #447 with 693 babies; Alma ranked #449 with 689 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Adelynn or Alma?
- Alma. Over the last five years Adelynn moved down 88 places; Alma moved up 111 places.
- Which is the older name, Adelynn or Alma?
- Adelynn entered the US charts in 1990; Alma was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Alma is the older name.
- How many people are named Adelynn and Alma?
- About 15,000 people named Adelynn are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 56,000 people named Alma are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Adelynns or Almas in the classroom?
- Adelynn will almost certainly be the only one in school. Alma 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
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