Head to head · Boys' names
Alan vs Amari
#191 vs #185 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Amari is a whisker ahead (#185 vs #191 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name 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
The tape is even: Alan and Amari 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: Alan #790, Amari — — Alan higher
- 1890s: Alan #539, Amari — — Alan higher
- 1900s: Alan #401, Amari — — Alan higher
- 1910s: Alan #333, Amari — — Alan higher
- 1920s: Alan #208, Amari — — Alan higher
- 1930s: Alan #114, Amari — — Alan higher
- 1940s: Alan #61, Amari — — Alan higher
- 1950s: Alan #44, Amari — — Alan higher
- 1960s: Alan #59, Amari — — Alan higher
- 1970s: Alan #113, Amari #5049 — Alan higher
- 1980s: Alan #110, Amari #5087 — Alan higher
- 1990s: Alan #144, Amari #2088 — Alan higher
- 2000s: Alan #138, Amari #444 — Alan higher
- 2010s: Alan #165, Amari #293 — Alan higher
- 2020s: Alan #184, Amari #183 — Amari higher
Alan stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Amari took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Alan | Amari |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #790 | — |
| 1890s | #539 | — |
| 1900s | #401 | — |
| 1910s | #333 | — |
| 1920s | #208 | — |
| 1930s | #114 | — |
| 1940s | #61 | — |
| 1950s | #44 | — |
| 1960s | #59 | — |
| 1970s | #113 | #5049 |
| 1980s | #110 | #5087 |
| 1990s | #144 | #2088 |
| 2000s | #138 | #444 |
| 2010s | #165 | #293 |
| 2020s | #184 | #183 |
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
Alan
Not established
Every proposed origin has a problem. A Breton word for a rock, a Celtic one for a deer, a tribal name from the steppe, an Irish word about harmony — all have been argued and none can be shown. What is certain is the route: Breton followers of the Conqueror brought the name into England in the eleventh century, and it spread from their estates in the north. That is unusual in itself. Almost every other common English name arrived from Hebrew, Greek, Latin or Germanic sources, and this one came in sideways.
a Breton name of unrecovered meaning → brought to England after the Conquest → a Breton follower of the Conqueror builds the largest estate in England → steady English and Scottish use for eight centuries → an American peak in the middle of the last century
How it traveled
Alan Turing wrote a paper in the 1930s about an imaginary machine — a tape, a reading head, a table of rules — in order to settle an abstract question about mathematical proof. The machine was never meant to be built.
Amari
No single agreed reading; the two strongest are 'immortal, undying' and 'the Lord has spoken'
Three serious roads lead to this sound. Sanskrit amara, 'immortal, undying', gives Punjabi and Hindi Amar and names like Amarjit. Hebrew Amaryah (Amariah), 'the Lord has said', appears in Chronicles and Nehemiah. Arabic supplies Amir, 'prince, commander', and Ammar, 'long-lived'. Amari as it is used in the United States may draw on any of these, and for many families it works simply as a name in its own right, built on a sound pattern already common here.
How it traveled
Amari's documented history in the United States is short and clear: it appeared in the national records within living memory and has climbed gradually rather than in a spike, which is why nearly everyone who carries it is still young. Its sound, though, is much older than its American life.
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
Alan
AL-un
Two syllables, stress at the front, first vowel as in pal. Scottish and Irish speakers often give the second syllable more weight than English ones do.
- Al — The universal short form, shared with half a dozen other names and none the worse for it.
- Lan — Takes the back half; rare in English and ordinary in several other languages.
Amari
uh-MAR-ee
Three syllables with the weight in the middle. Some families say ah-MAH-ree, with a fuller first vowel; both are heard and neither needs correcting.
- Ari — The most common short form, and a full given name on its own for boys and girls alike.
- Mari — Informal, from the second half of the name; also stands alone as a given name in Welsh, Japanese and Scandinavian use.
- Am — Casual, family-level, rarely written down.
- Amar — Used informally by some families, and a complete given name in its own right in South Asia.
Who has carried each name
Alan
Alan Turing (b. 1912) — Broke the Enigma code and founded computer science
Alan Rickman (b. 1946) — Harry Potter's Snape
Alan Shepard (b. 1923) — First American in space — later hit a golf ball on the Moon
Amari
No documented entry for Amari yet.
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 Alan if you want…
- a name holding steadyAlan is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesAlan is 2 syllables to Amari's 3
Choose Amari if you want…
- a name on the way upup 32 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itAmari runs 3 syllables, Alan 2
- plenty of nickname options4 recorded short forms — Ari, Mari and Am
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
Alan
Strengths
- It has been in continuous use for nine hundred years without ever becoming a costume.
- Two letters, one syllable and no possible mispronunciation once the spelling is settled.
- It carries serious namesakes in mathematics, in acting and in spaceflight, and none of them owns it.
To consider
- Allen and Allan are both common and the spelling will need saying every time.
- It is a name of the middle of the last century in America and reads as a father's or a grandfather's.
- There is no meaning to give a child, and the ones offered in name books are guesses.
Amari
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds and said the way it looks — most people get it right on the first try, in speech and on paper.
- Works for a boy or a girl with no change of spelling or pronunciation.
- Has real short forms already in use: Ari and Mari, both of which stand alone as names.
To consider
- Most Amaris in the United States are boys, though a real minority are girls. For a daughter, that means forms and rosters will sometimes assume otherwise — easily corrected, but worth knowing in advance.
- It lives close to Amara, Amaris, Amaya and Amir, and people will occasionally reach for one of those instead. Expect a gentle correction now and then rather than a lifelong battle.
- The meaning is genuinely unsettled. If you want one clean answer to give a curious child, you will be choosing between good ones rather than reciting a fact.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Alan
25%chance Alan feels dated by 2040
Alan peaked long ago yet still holds steady — names that survive their own wave usually settle into quiet, durable classics.
Amari
40%chance Amari feels dated by 2040
Amari 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 Alan and Amari 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 Alan and Amari?
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 that carry both names
Every list here names both Alan and Amari — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Alan or Amari — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Alan or Amari?
- Amari, in 2025: Amari ranked #185 with 2,000 babies; Alan ranked #191 with 1,915 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Alan or Amari?
- Amari. Over the last five years Alan moved up 3 places; Amari moved up 32 places.
- Which is the older name, Alan or Amari?
- Alan entered the US charts in 1882; Amari entered the US charts in 1974. On the American record, Alan is the older name.
- How many people are named Alan and Amari?
- About 277,000 people named Alan are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 31,500 people named Amari are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Alans or Amaris in the classroom?
- Alan will almost certainly be the only one in school. Amari 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 Alan, Amari and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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