Head to head · Girls' names
Ailani vs Anastasia
#168 vs #163 in 2025
Anastasia is a whisker ahead (#163 vs #168 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Anastasia is holding its place on the charts, Ailani is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Ailani 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, Anastasia leads 5 measures of 6; Ailani leads 1.
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: Ailani —, Anastasia #522 — Anastasia higher
- 1890s: Ailani —, Anastasia #524 — Anastasia higher
- 1900s: Ailani —, Anastasia #598 — Anastasia higher
- 1910s: Ailani —, Anastasia #586 — Anastasia higher
- 1920s: Ailani —, Anastasia #733 — Anastasia higher
- 1930s: Ailani —, Anastasia #1060 — Anastasia higher
- 1940s: Ailani —, Anastasia #1366 — Anastasia higher
- 1950s: Ailani —, Anastasia #1435 — Anastasia higher
- 1960s: Ailani —, Anastasia #855 — Anastasia higher
- 1970s: Ailani —, Anastasia #658 — Anastasia higher
- 1980s: Ailani —, Anastasia #494 — Anastasia higher
- 1990s: Ailani #10433, Anastasia #331 — Anastasia higher
- 2000s: Ailani #3078, Anastasia #302 — Anastasia higher
- 2010s: Ailani #1489, Anastasia #243 — Anastasia higher
- 2020s: Ailani #438, Anastasia #166 — Anastasia higher
Anastasia stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Ailani | Anastasia |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #522 |
| 1890s | — | #524 |
| 1900s | — | #598 |
| 1910s | — | #586 |
| 1920s | — | #733 |
| 1930s | — | #1060 |
| 1940s | — | #1366 |
| 1950s | — | #1435 |
| 1960s | — | #855 |
| 1970s | — | #658 |
| 1980s | — | #494 |
| 1990s | #10433 | #331 |
| 2000s | #3078 | #302 |
| 2010s | #1489 | #243 |
| 2020s | #438 | #166 |
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
Ailani
Not established
Baby-name listings often gloss Ailani as "high chief", joining Hawaiian ali'i (chief) and lani (sky, heaven). That reading is not established, and Ailani is not attested as a traditional Hawaiian name. What is documented is the -lani element itself: a real Hawaiian word for sky or heaven, found in names like Leilani and Noelani. Beyond that, nobody has settled where this spelling came from.
Our story of Ailani — where the record runs out
No one has traced where Ailani began, and the honest picture is of a name that surfaced in American records rather than traveling in from somewhere older. What it plainly belongs to is a family: the -lani names — Leilani, Kailani, Noelani — built on a genuine Hawaiian word for sky, which spread far beyond the islands over the last century.
Anastasia
Resurrection; she who will rise again
From Greek anastasis, 'resurrection, a rising up' — the feminine counterpart of the man's name Anastasios.
anastasis (Greek: resurrection) → Anastasios → Anastasia → Anastasiya → Stacy
How it traveled
The name is Greek and Christian from the start: anastasis was the word for the Resurrection, and Anastasia was given to daughters as a piece of that vocabulary. It spread with the Eastern church into the Slavic world, where it became one of the great staples of Russian and Ukrainian naming, and westward into Latin Christendom, where it survived in calendars and saints' days.
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
Ailani
eye-LAH-nee
Both eye-LAH-nee and ay-LAH-nee are in real use; the first syllable is the only unsettled part, and families tend to fix it themselves. The -LAH-nee ending is stable everywhere.
- Lani — The most natural short form, and a standing given name in its own right in Hawaiian usage.
- Ani — Informal clipping of the last two syllables; also used independently as a given name in Armenian.
- Ai — A very short household form, mostly spoken rather than written.
Anastasia
an-uh-STAY-zhuh
That is the usual American pronunciation. Greek, Russian and much of Europe say an-ah-stah-SEE-ah, stressing the second-to-last syllable, and plenty of families in the US use that version too.
- Ana — The most portable short form in English and Spanish alike; also stands alone as a given name.
- Stacy — A historic English clipping of Anastasia that became an independent name; strongly represented among older generations.
- Nastya — The standard everyday short form in Russian and Ukrainian, informal and used among family and friends.
- Stasia — Used in Polish and Slavic families, and by English speakers who prefer the tail of the name to the head.
- Also Tasia, Asya.
Who has carried each name
Ailani
No documented entry for Ailani yet.
Anastasia
Anastasia Nikolaevna, Grand Duchess of Russia (b. 1901) — The tsar's daughter whose rumored survival inspired decades of legend and films
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 Ailani if you want…
- a name on the way upup 374 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesAilani is 3 syllables to Anastasia's 4
- a newer arrivalAilani entered the US charts in 1996
- a name that feels very nowAilani is climbing the charts fast
Choose Anastasia if you want…
- a name holding steadyAnastasia is holding its place on the charts
- a name with more sound in itAnastasia runs 4 syllables, Ailani 3
- plenty of nickname options6 recorded short forms — Ana, Stacy and Nastya
- a long American recordAnastasia 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
Ailani
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds in both English and Spanish, with no silent letters and no doubled consonants to explain.
- Sits inside a recognizable family of names — Leilani, Kailani, Alani — so it sounds familiar even to people meeting it for the first time.
- Rare enough that a child is unlikely to share it in a classroom, while the sound itself is widely known.
To consider
- The opening syllable is genuinely ambiguous — eye- or ay- — so expect to correct it, politely and often, throughout life.
- It lives close to Alani, Leilani, Kailani and the spelling Ailany, and mail and rosters will sometimes drift into one of those.
- The "high chief" meaning circulating online isn't established, so it's worth deciding now whether you mind being asked what it means and not having a firm answer.
Anastasia
Strengths
- A settled, documented meaning in Greek — resurrection — with no competing readings.
- Recognized across Greek, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Italian and Spanish, with spellings close enough that it travels intact.
- Several long-established short forms, from Ana to Stacy to Nastya, so the child has real choices rather than invented ones.
To consider
- Two pronunciations coexist: an-uh-STAY-zhuh and an-ah-stah-SEE-ah. Both are correct, but she will be asked which one she uses, probably for life.
- Five syllables and nine letters. Forms, teachers and coffee cups will shorten it whether or not the family does.
- The name is closely tied to the Romanov story and the films it produced, and more recently to the heroine of the Fifty Shades novels. Neither association is overwhelming, but both are out there.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Ailani
62%chance Ailani feels dated by 2040
Ailani 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.
Anastasia
40%chance Anastasia feels dated by 2040
Anastasia 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.
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 Ailani and Anastasia in full.
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Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
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More head-to-heads
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Lists these names appear on
- Names at their all-time peak, right now
- Six-letter names in current use
- Names far more common than their rank admits
- Hawaiian names full of ocean light
- all guides
Where Ailani and Anastasia each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Ailani or Anastasia — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Ailani or Anastasia?
- Anastasia, in 2025: Anastasia ranked #163 with 1,832 babies; Ailani ranked #168 with 1,807 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Ailani or Anastasia?
- Ailani. Over the last five years Ailani moved up 374 places; Anastasia moved down 5 places.
- Which is the older name, Ailani or Anastasia?
- Ailani entered the US charts in 1996; Anastasia was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Anastasia is the older name.
- How many people are named Ailani and Anastasia?
- About 7,900 people named Ailani are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 53,000 people named Anastasia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Ailanis or Anastasias in the classroom?
- Ailani will almost certainly be the only one in school. Anastasia 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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