Head to head · Boys' names
Alan vs Aziel
#191 vs #186 in 2025
Aziel is a whisker ahead (#186 vs #191 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Aziel is climbing the charts fast, Alan is holding its place on the charts.
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 Aziel 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, Aziel — — Alan higher
- 1890s: Alan #539, Aziel — — Alan higher
- 1900s: Alan #401, Aziel — — Alan higher
- 1910s: Alan #333, Aziel — — Alan higher
- 1920s: Alan #208, Aziel — — Alan higher
- 1930s: Alan #114, Aziel — — Alan higher
- 1940s: Alan #61, Aziel — — Alan higher
- 1950s: Alan #44, Aziel — — Alan higher
- 1960s: Alan #59, Aziel — — Alan higher
- 1970s: Alan #113, Aziel — — Alan higher
- 1980s: Alan #110, Aziel — — Alan higher
- 1990s: Alan #144, Aziel #7127 — Alan higher
- 2000s: Alan #138, Aziel #4147 — Alan higher
- 2010s: Alan #165, Aziel #2103 — Alan higher
- 2020s: Alan #184, Aziel #298 — Alan higher
Alan stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Alan | Aziel |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #790 | — |
| 1890s | #539 | — |
| 1900s | #401 | — |
| 1910s | #333 | — |
| 1920s | #208 | — |
| 1930s | #114 | — |
| 1940s | #61 | — |
| 1950s | #44 | — |
| 1960s | #59 | — |
| 1970s | #113 | — |
| 1980s | #110 | — |
| 1990s | #144 | #7127 |
| 2000s | #138 | #4147 |
| 2010s | #165 | #2103 |
| 2020s | #184 | #298 |
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.
Aziel
God is my strength
Hebrew עֲזִיאֵל, built from a root meaning strength or refuge plus El, "God". Rendered in English translations and reference works as "God is my strength" or "God has strengthened".
Yaʿaziʾel (Hebrew) → Jaaziel → ʿAziʾel → Aziel
How it traveled
The name is Hebrew and biblical: Aziel appears in 1 Chronicles 15 among the Levites appointed to make music before the ark, and the same man is called by the fuller form Jaaziel a few verses earlier. Unlike Daniel or Gabriel, it stayed obscure for centuries, carried mainly by readers of Chronicles rather than by churches or kings.
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.
Aziel
AY-zee-el
Three syllables with stress on the first is the usual American reading. Spanish-speaking families often say ah-see-EL or use the form Azael, ah-sah-EL, with the stress at the end; Hebrew places it near ah-zee-EL. Worth deciding which you want, since both are correct in their own setting.
- Azi — The most natural short form in English; informal, and used by family more than in writing.
- Az — A one-syllable clip, mostly informal and heard among friends and teammates.
- Zee — Drawn from the middle of the name; informal, and also stands alone as a nickname for many Z-names.
- Ziel — Less common; used within families rather than as an everyday call name.
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
Aziel
No documented entry for Aziel 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 that ages quietlyan estimated 25% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 61% for Aziel
Choose Aziel if you want…
- a name on the way upup 309 places on the charts in five years
- plenty of nickname options4 recorded short forms — Azi, Az and Zee
- a name that feels very nowAziel is climbing the charts fast
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.
Aziel
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds for most English speakers, and short enough to write on a name tag by kindergarten.
- A documented scriptural record going back to the Hebrew Bible, where Aziel is named among the Levite musicians.
- Sits naturally in both English and Spanish, with Azael as an established Spanish-language counterpart.
To consider
- It lands close to several other names — Azael, Azriel, Asiel, Uriel — and you should expect a lifetime of gentle corrections, plus the occasional mishearing as Azazel or Azrael, both of which belong to darker traditions.
- The stress is genuinely unfixed between English and Spanish speakers. In a bilingual family the name may be said two different ways at two different dinner tables, which is workable but worth settling early.
- Despite the ancient root, it has almost no adult history in the United States: nearly everyone carrying it is still a young child, so there is no grown-up template for how it wears.
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.
Aziel
61%chance Aziel feels dated by 2040
Aziel 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.
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 Aziel 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 Aziel?
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 Aziel — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Alan or Aziel — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Alan or Aziel?
- Aziel, in 2025: Aziel ranked #186 with 1,975 babies; Alan ranked #191 with 1,915 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Alan or Aziel?
- Aziel. Over the last five years Alan moved up 3 places; Aziel moved up 309 places.
- Which is the older name, Alan or Aziel?
- Alan entered the US charts in 1882; Aziel entered the US charts in 1991. On the American record, Alan is the older name.
- How many people are named Alan and Aziel?
- About 277,000 people named Alan are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 8,700 people named Aziel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Alans or Aziels in the classroom?
- Alan will almost certainly be the only one in school. Aziel 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, Aziel and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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