Head to head · Girls' names
Alana vs Aubrey
#140 vs #146 in 2025
Alana is a whisker ahead (#140 vs #146 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Alana is climbing the charts fast, Aubrey is stepping back from its peak.
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: Alana and Aubrey 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: Alana —, Aubrey #1279 — Aubrey higher
- 1890s: Alana —, Aubrey #1359 — Aubrey higher
- 1900s: Alana —, Aubrey #1431 — Aubrey higher
- 1910s: Alana —, Aubrey #1608 — Aubrey higher
- 1920s: Alana —, Aubrey #1586 — Aubrey higher
- 1930s: Alana #3927, Aubrey #1972 — Aubrey higher
- 1940s: Alana #1442, Aubrey #3051 — Alana higher
- 1950s: Alana #827, Aubrey #3781 — Alana higher
- 1960s: Alana #746, Aubrey #4177 — Alana higher
- 1970s: Alana #540, Aubrey #1759 — Alana higher
- 1980s: Alana #350, Aubrey #353 — Alana higher
- 1990s: Alana #313, Aubrey #263 — Aubrey higher
- 2000s: Alana #193, Aubrey #140 — Aubrey higher
- 2010s: Alana #196, Aubrey #28 — Aubrey higher
- 2020s: Alana #184, Aubrey #97 — Aubrey higher
Aubrey stood higher in 10 of 15 decades; Aubrey has held the lead since the 1990s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Alana | Aubrey |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #1279 |
| 1890s | — | #1359 |
| 1900s | — | #1431 |
| 1910s | — | #1608 |
| 1920s | — | #1586 |
| 1930s | #3927 | #1972 |
| 1940s | #1442 | #3051 |
| 1950s | #827 | #3781 |
| 1960s | #746 | #4177 |
| 1970s | #540 | #1759 |
| 1980s | #350 | #353 |
| 1990s | #313 | #263 |
| 2000s | #193 | #140 |
| 2010s | #196 | #28 |
| 2020s | #184 | #97 |
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
Alana
Feminine form of Alan, whose own root is disputed; separately, a Hawaiian word for an offering
Two lines of explanation compete for Alan. One traces it to a Brythonic or Breton root and reads it as 'rock' or 'handsome'; the other connects it to the Alans, the Iranian steppe people some of whom settled in Gaul in late antiquity. Neither has won. Alongside that, Hawaiian has its own word alana, meaning an offering, which is a genuinely independent source for the same spelling — so an Alana in Hawaii and an Alana in Ohio may be carrying two different names that happen to look alike.
Alan (Breton) → Alain (French) → Alan (English) → Alana
How it traveled
Alan was a Breton favorite before it was an English one, and it crossed the Channel with the Breton lords who came in the train of William the Conqueror in the eleventh century. From there it settled into England and Scotland, took the form Alain in France and Alun in Wales, and kept going without a serious break for nine hundred years.
Aubrey
elf ruler — from Germanic *alb* 'elf' and *rīc* 'power, ruler'
The underlying Germanic name is Alberich, the same name borne by the dwarf-king of the medieval German Nibelungenlied.
Alberich → Auberi → Aubrey
How it traveled
The root is the Germanic Alberich, built from *alb*, 'elf', and *rīc*, 'power' or 'ruler'. Old French speakers wore it down to Auberi, and the Normans carried that form into England after 1066, where it settled among the aristocracy and then hardened into the surnames Aubrey and Aubery.
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
Alana
uh-LAH-nuh
Also said uh-LAN-uh, with the vowel of 'can'. Both are in real use in the US, so whichever you pick will need stating now and then.
- Lana — The most natural short form, and a well-established given name in its own right.
- Allie — Informal; shared with Allison and Alexandra, and also used as a standalone name.
- Ally — Same short form, the other common spelling; informal, mostly among friends and family.
- Lanie — An affectionate family form rather than one used on paperwork.
- Also Al.
Aubrey
AW-bree
Two syllables, stress on the first. The main hazard is not pronunciation but hearing: over the phone it is easily taken for Audrey, so a spelling often follows.
- Aubs — Informal, mostly among friends and family.
- Bree — Informal short form; also stands on its own as a given name.
- Aub — Clipped and casual, common in speech rather than writing.
- Rey — Informal; drawn from the second syllable and used as an independent name too.
Who has carried each name
Alana
No documented entry for Alana yet.
Aubrey
Aubrey Plaza (b. 1984) — Deadpan queen of Parks and Recreation and The White Lotus
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 Alana if you want…
- a name on the way upup 66 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itAlana runs 3 syllables, Aubrey 2
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 53% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 82% for Aubrey
Choose Aubrey if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsAubrey is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesAubrey is 2 syllables to Alana's 3
- a name that feels very nowAubrey 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
Alana
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds in every language that uses it — no silent letters, no ambiguous consonants.
- Carries two ready-made short forms, Lana and Allie, both of which already stand alone as names.
- Works unchanged in English, Spanish and Portuguese, which matters in a household or a family tree that spans more than one.
To consider
- Two pronunciations circulate — uh-LAH-nuh and uh-LAN-uh — and neither is wrong. Expect to correct people occasionally, and to hear both from teachers over the years.
- The near-identical spellings Alanna, Alannah, Alaina and Elana all exist, so the name will be spelled back to you incorrectly from time to time.
- It is climbing steadily rather than sitting still, so her class may hold more Alanas than the current picture suggests — though nothing near the level where a surname initial becomes necessary.
Aubrey
Strengths
- A documented line running from Germanic Alberich through Norman French into English — nearly a thousand years of continuous use in one form or another.
- Spelled the way it sounds for an English speaker, and familiar enough that most people write it correctly on the first try.
- Well supplied with short forms already in use: Aubs, Bree, Aub, Rey.
To consider
- Audrey is the constant confusion — same rhythm, one letter apart in sound, and both in current use. Expect to repeat and spell it fairly often.
- The variants Aubree and Aubrie are both in circulation, so people who know the name may still guess the wrong spelling.
- In American records this is now overwhelmingly a girls' name, though its long history is male. A boy named Aubrey wears the older tradition, and will likely need to explain it.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Alana
53%chance Alana feels dated by 2040
Alana 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.
Aubrey
82%chance Aubrey feels dated by 2040
Aubrey is coming down from a big peak (#15 in 2012). 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 Alana and Aubrey 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 Alana and Aubrey?
Put both to the vote.
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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 Alana and Aubrey — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Alana or Aubrey — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Alana or Aubrey?
- Alana, in 2025: Alana ranked #140 with 2,085 babies; Aubrey ranked #146 with 2,003 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Alana or Aubrey?
- Alana. Over the last five years Alana moved up 66 places; Aubrey moved down 90 places.
- Which is the older name, Alana or Aubrey?
- Alana entered the US charts in 1930; Aubrey entered the US charts in 1889. On the American record, Aubrey is the older name.
- How many people are named Alana and Aubrey?
- About 66,500 people named Alana are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 132,000 people named Aubrey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Alanas or Aubreys in the classroom?
- Alana will almost certainly be the only one in school. Aubrey 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 Alana, Aubrey and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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