Head to head · Boys' names
Akari vs Augustine
#542 vs #545 in 2025
Akari is a whisker ahead (#542 vs #545 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Akari is climbing the charts fast, Augustine is back after a long quiet spell.
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
The tape is even: Akari and Augustine each lead 3 measures of 6.
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: Akari —, Augustine #638 — Augustine higher
- 1890s: Akari —, Augustine #738 — Augustine higher
- 1900s: Akari —, Augustine #654 — Augustine higher
- 1910s: Akari —, Augustine #562 — Augustine higher
- 1920s: Akari —, Augustine #498 — Augustine higher
- 1930s: Akari —, Augustine #570 — Augustine higher
- 1940s: Akari —, Augustine #645 — Augustine higher
- 1950s: Akari —, Augustine #723 — Augustine higher
- 1960s: Akari —, Augustine #792 — Augustine higher
- 1970s: Akari —, Augustine #858 — Augustine higher
- 1980s: Akari —, Augustine #980 — Augustine higher
- 1990s: Akari —, Augustine #1147 — Augustine higher
- 2000s: Akari #8815, Augustine #1151 — Augustine higher
- 2010s: Akari #4223, Augustine #892 — Augustine higher
- 2020s: Akari #1783, Augustine #609 — Augustine higher
Augustine stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Akari | Augustine |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #638 |
| 1890s | — | #738 |
| 1900s | — | #654 |
| 1910s | — | #562 |
| 1920s | — | #498 |
| 1930s | — | #570 |
| 1940s | — | #645 |
| 1950s | — | #723 |
| 1960s | — | #792 |
| 1970s | — | #858 |
| 1980s | — | #980 |
| 1990s | — | #1147 |
| 2000s | #8815 | #1151 |
| 2010s | #4223 | #892 |
| 2020s | #1783 | #609 |
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
Akari
light; lamplight (in its Japanese reading)
Two accounts compete because two different names share the spelling. In Japanese, akari is an everyday word for light or lamplight and a well-established given name. As an American boys' name it often owes less to Japanese than to the rhyming family of Amari, Jabari and Khari, where the appeal is the sound itself and no single meaning applies. Which road a given Akari took is a family matter, not a settled fact.
How it traveled
In Japan, Akari is a word-name — the glow of a lamp — written with characters chosen family by family. The United States picked up the spelling separately: it fits a run of melodic boys' names ending in -ari that American families, especially in the Southeast, have been building for a generation.
Augustine
venerable, majestic
Latin Augustinus is a diminutive of Augustus, the title meaning 'venerable, consecrated, majestic', from augere, 'to increase'.
Augustus → Augustinus → Augustine → Austin
How it traveled
The name begins as Latin Augustinus, a diminutive of Augustus — the honorific taken by Rome's first emperor and by every emperor after him. Christianity carried it far past Rome: Augustine of Hippo in North Africa in the fourth and fifth centuries, and Augustine of Canterbury, sent to England in 597, made it a churchman's name across Western Europe.
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
Akari
ah-KAR-ee
Three even syllables. Japanese speakers keep them level — AH-kah-ree — while American English tends to lean on the middle. Neither is wrong.
- Kari — The natural everyday clip; as a standalone name Kari is more familiar on girls.
Augustine
aw-GUS-tin
Also said AW-gus-teen, the form usual in Britain and in the name of St. Augustine, Florida. Both are established in American English, so expect to correct people either way.
- Gus — The most common short form; also stands alone as a given name and is shared with Augustus and Gustav.
- Auggie — Informal, often used in childhood; sometimes spelled Augie.
- Austin — Historically the contracted English form of the same name, now overwhelmingly used as an independent given name and surname.
- Tino — Informal short form carried over from Spanish Agustín.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Akari if you want…
- a name on the way upup 1,784 places on the charts in five years
- a name that stays wholeone recorded short form for Akari (Kari)
- a newer arrivalAkari entered the US charts in 2002
- a name that feels very nowAkari is climbing the charts fast
Choose Augustine if you want…
- plenty of nickname options4 recorded short forms — Gus, Auggie and Austin
- a long American recordAugustine was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 30% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 64% for Akari
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
Akari
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds — strangers land on the right pronunciation at first sight.
- Rhymes with names people already know, so it registers as familiar rather than difficult.
- Carries genuine cross-cultural reach, with an established life in Japan.
To consider
- In Japan, Akari is overwhelmingly a girls' name — worth knowing if your family has ties there.
- Hearing-based guesses like Amari, and spellings like Akkari, will follow him on forms.
- It is very new as an American boys' name, so there are no grown Akaris yet to show how it wears in adulthood.
Augustine
Strengths
- Two well-worn short forms, Gus and Auggie, both in real use for generations.
- A spelling nearly everyone can read, thanks to the saint, the Florida city and the Confessions.
- An unbroken written record from Roman antiquity to the present, with no gap in use.
To consider
- Two accepted pronunciations, aw-GUS-tin and AW-gus-teen, means a lifetime of small clarifications — worth deciding early which one your family uses.
- The religious weight is real. For many people the name means the bishop of Hippo first, which some families love and others would rather not carry.
- Four syllables on paper, and most people will reach for Gus or Auggie in daily life. If you dislike either, that is useful to know now.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Akari
64%chance Akari feels dated by 2040
Akari 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.
Augustine
30%chance Augustine feels dated by 2040
Augustine is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
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 Akari and Augustine 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 Akari and Augustine?
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 these names appear on
- Borrowed from the girls: names boys are taking back
- Vintage names making a comeback
- Grandmother-chic: 1920s names ready to return
- Nine-letter names, the long end of the chart
- all guides
Where Akari and Augustine each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Akari or Augustine — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Akari or Augustine?
- Akari, in 2025: Akari ranked #542 with 554 babies; Augustine ranked #545 with 549 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Akari or Augustine?
- Akari. Over the last five years Akari moved up 1,784 places; Augustine moved up 166 places.
- Which is the older name, Akari or Augustine?
- Akari entered the US charts in 2002; Augustine was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Augustine is the older name.
- How many people are named Akari and Augustine?
- About 1,300 people named Akari are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 11,500 people named Augustine are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Akaris or Augustines in the classroom?
- Akari will almost certainly be the only one in school. Augustine 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
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Akari, Augustine and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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