Head to head · Boys' names
Adonis vs Alex
#241 vs #232 in 2025
Alex is a whisker ahead (#232 vs #241 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Alex is stepping back from its peak, Adonis is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Adonis 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, Alex leads 5 measures of 6; Adonis 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
- 1880s: Adonis —, Alex #101 — Alex higher
- 1890s: Adonis —, Alex #117 — Alex higher
- 1900s: Adonis —, Alex #126 — Alex higher
- 1910s: Adonis #4179, Alex #131 — Alex higher
- 1920s: Adonis #3724, Alex #164 — Alex higher
- 1930s: Adonis #3613, Alex #199 — Alex higher
- 1940s: Adonis #3525, Alex #222 — Alex higher
- 1950s: Adonis #2704, Alex #252 — Alex higher
- 1960s: Adonis #2576, Alex #213 — Alex higher
- 1970s: Adonis #1465, Alex #175 — Alex higher
- 1980s: Adonis #1359, Alex #99 — Alex higher
- 1990s: Adonis #883, Alex #55 — Alex higher
- 2000s: Adonis #814, Alex #69 — Alex higher
- 2010s: Adonis #565, Alex #127 — Alex higher
- 2020s: Adonis #215, Alex #201 — Alex higher
Alex stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Adonis | Alex |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #101 |
| 1890s | — | #117 |
| 1900s | — | #126 |
| 1910s | #4179 | #131 |
| 1920s | #3724 | #164 |
| 1930s | #3613 | #199 |
| 1940s | #3525 | #222 |
| 1950s | #2704 | #252 |
| 1960s | #2576 | #213 |
| 1970s | #1465 | #175 |
| 1980s | #1359 | #99 |
| 1990s | #883 | #55 |
| 2000s | #814 | #69 |
| 2010s | #565 | #127 |
| 2020s | #215 | #201 |
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
Adonis
lord
The Greek name comes from the Semitic title ʼadōn, "lord" — the same root behind Hebrew Adonai. In Greek it stopped being a title and became the name of a single mythological youth.
ʼadōn (Semitic, "lord") → Adōnis (Greek) → Adonis (Latin) → Adonis (English)
How it traveled
Adonis began as a Semitic word for "lord" and crossed into Greek as the name of a beautiful young hunter loved by Aphrodite and killed by a wild boar — a figure worshipped in rites of mourning and renewal around the eastern Mediterranean. The archaic Greek poet Sappho left a surviving fragment lamenting him, and the Romans carried the story on in Latin.
Alex
defender of men
From the Greek Alexandros, joining alexein, to defend or ward off, with the stem andr-, man. The sense is protective rather than martial.
Alexandros → Alexander → Alex
How it traveled
Alexandros is one of the oldest names still in ordinary use: it appears in the Iliad as a second name for Paris of Troy, long before Alexander of Macedon made it famous across three continents in the fourth century BC. His conquests carried it east, where it survives in Persian and Urdu as Sikandar; the church carried it west, through saints, popes and later the tsars of Russia.
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
Adonis
uh-DON-iss
Also heard as uh-DOH-nis, with a long middle vowel. Modern Greek stresses the first syllable instead: AH-thoh-nees. In Spanish it is ah-DOH-nees.
- Don — Informal short form; also a long-established given name in its own right.
- Addy — Informal, used mostly by family and in early childhood; shared with Adam and Adrian.
- Donnie — Informal and affectionate; stands alone as a given name for older generations.
- Adi — Informal short form, common where the name is used in Spanish-speaking families.
Alex
AL-iks
One settled pronunciation in English, stress on the first syllable. Spelled correctly on first hearing in most languages that use the Latin alphabet.
- Al — Informal and older-fashioned; also stands alone as a given name.
- Lex — Informal; used independently as a given name as well.
- Alexander — Not a nickname but the long form many people will assume lies behind Alex, and will sometimes use in formal settings.
- Ally — Informal, more often heard for girls named Alex.
- Also Sasha.
Who has carried each name
Adonis
No documented entry for Adonis yet.
Alex
Alex Ferguson (b. 1941) — Soccer's most decorated manager
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 Adonis if you want…
- a name with more sound in itAdonis runs 3 syllables, Alex 2
- a newer arrivalAdonis entered the US charts in 1918
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 76% for Alex
Choose Alex if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsAlex is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesAlex is 2 syllables to Adonis's 3
- a long American recordAlex was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that feels very nowAlex 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
Adonis
Strengths
- A spelling almost everyone has already seen, in myth, in Shakespeare, or in the dictionary — rarely needs to be spelled out twice.
- Works unchanged in Spanish, French and Portuguese, which matters in the regions where it is strongest.
- Yields Don and Donnie, short forms that have stood alone as names for generations.
To consider
- In English, "an adonis" is a plain-language term for a very handsome man. Most people will make that connection at least once, and a boy may hear comments about his looks framed by his name — worth knowing in advance.
- The myth itself ends badly: Adonis is gored by a boar and mourned. It is a love story and a death story at the same time, which some families find rich and others would rather not carry.
- Two pronunciations circulate in the US, uh-DON-iss and uh-DOH-nis, so expect to correct people occasionally or simply to accept both.
Alex
Strengths
- Already the short form, so there is nothing left to shorten against your wishes — the everyday name and the legal name can be the same.
- Spelled and said correctly on first contact across English, Spanish, Portuguese and German, which matters in a family with more than one language.
- An unbroken written record from Homeric Greek through the tsars to the present, so it has never had to be revived.
To consider
- Alex arrives at boys through Alexander and at girls through Alexandra, Alexandria and Alexis, so on paper it signals no gender. Some families like that; others find the emails addressed to the wrong person tiresome.
- Many people will assume Alex is short for Alexander and lengthen it unasked — on forms, at doctors' offices, in introductions. Expect to correct it now and then if the full name is not what you chose.
- It is a name still strongly represented among adults now in their thirties, which means plenty of grown Alexes in the workplace and few in the kindergarten room.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Adonis
40%chance Adonis feels dated by 2040
Adonis sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
Alex
76%chance Alex feels dated by 2040
Alex is coming down from a big peak (#47 in 1995). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
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 Adonis and Alex 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
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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
- Three-syllable names with room to move
- Hero and god names for boys
- Names ending in -s
- Names ending in -is
- all guides
Where Adonis and Alex each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Adonis or Alex — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Adonis or Alex?
- Alex, in 2025: Alex ranked #232 with 1,515 babies; Adonis ranked #241 with 1,462 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Adonis or Alex?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Adonis moved down 18 places; Alex moved down 49 places.
- Which is the older name, Adonis or Alex?
- Adonis entered the US charts in 1918; Alex was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Alex is the older name.
- How many people are named Adonis and Alex?
- About 21,500 people named Adonis are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 245,000 people named Alex are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Adoniss or Alexs in the classroom?
- Adonis will almost certainly be the only one in school. Alex 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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