Head to head · Girls' names
Alana vs Elliana
#140 vs #139 in 2025
Elliana is a whisker ahead (#139 vs #140 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Elliana is holding its place on the charts, Alana is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Alana 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
The tape is even: Alana and Elliana 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
- 1930s: Alana #3927, Elliana — — Alana higher
- 1940s: Alana #1442, Elliana — — Alana higher
- 1950s: Alana #827, Elliana — — Alana higher
- 1960s: Alana #746, Elliana — — Alana higher
- 1970s: Alana #540, Elliana — — Alana higher
- 1980s: Alana #350, Elliana #8730 — Alana higher
- 1990s: Alana #313, Elliana #7398 — Alana higher
- 2000s: Alana #193, Elliana #1151 — Alana higher
- 2010s: Alana #196, Elliana #276 — Alana higher
- 2020s: Alana #184, Elliana #132 — Elliana higher
Alana stood higher in 9 of 10 decades; Elliana took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Alana | Elliana |
|---|---|---|
| 1930s | #3927 | — |
| 1940s | #1442 | — |
| 1950s | #827 | — |
| 1960s | #746 | — |
| 1970s | #540 | — |
| 1980s | #350 | #8730 |
| 1990s | #313 | #7398 |
| 2000s | #193 | #1151 |
| 2010s | #196 | #276 |
| 2020s | #184 | #132 |
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.
Elliana
"God has answered me" (Hebrew) or "sun" (Latin)
Two separate names have long shared this shape. The Hebrew Eliana reads as "God has answered me" (from the elements for God and for answering). The Italian, Spanish and Portuguese Eliana descends instead from the Roman family name Aelianus, itself usually connected to Helios, the sun. Neither reading has pushed the other out, and Elliana inherits both.
Aelianus → Eliana → Elliana
How it traveled
Eliana existed independently in two places: in Hebrew, built from the words for God and for answering, and in the Romance languages as the feminine of Aeliano, from the Roman name Aelianus. Both forms traveled into English use, which is why dictionaries offer two meanings without contradiction.
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.
Elliana
el-ee-AH-nuh
Four syllables, stress on the third. A second pronunciation, el-ee-AN-uh (rhyming with Anna), is also in use, so the name is often introduced with a quick correction one way or the other.
- Ellie — The most common short form, and a registered given name in its own right across the English-speaking world.
- Ella — Informal, drawn from the first half; also stands alone as a given name.
- Elle — A shorter, more clipped option, used both informally and as an independent name.
- Lia — Taken from the tail of the name; independently used in Italian, German and Portuguese.
- Also Ana, Elli.
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 fewer syllablesAlana is 3 syllables to Elliana's 4
Choose Elliana if you want…
- a name holding steadyElliana is holding its place on the charts
- a name with more sound in itElliana runs 4 syllables, Alana 3
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.
Elliana
Strengths
- Comes with short forms already in independent use — Ellie, Ella, Elle — so the everyday name needs no inventing.
- Works in Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Hebrew in the closely related Eliana form, which travels without translation.
- Reads phonetically on a first pass; most English speakers will attempt it correctly even if they need the stress confirmed.
To consider
- The spelling will need repeating. Eliana, Elliana, Iliana and Eleana all circulate, and the single-L version is the older and better-known one, so expect to spell it out at the pharmacy and the school office.
- Two pronunciations are both in real use — el-ee-AH-nuh and el-ee-AN-uh. Worth deciding which one you want before the birth announcement.
- Ellie is shared with Elizabeth, Eleanor, Elena and many others. A child may be the only Elliana in the building and still be one of several Ellies.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
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 Elliana 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 Elliana?
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 Alana and Elliana — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Alana or Elliana — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Alana or Elliana?
- Elliana, in 2025: Elliana ranked #139 with 2,099 babies; Alana ranked #140 with 2,085 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Alana or Elliana?
- Alana. Over the last five years Alana moved up 66 places; Elliana moved down 6 places.
- Which is the older name, Alana or Elliana?
- Alana entered the US charts in 1930; Elliana entered the US charts in 1986. On the American record, Alana is the older name.
- How many people are named Alana and Elliana?
- About 66,500 people named Alana are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 28,000 people named Elliana are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Alanas or Ellianas in the classroom?
- Alana will almost certainly be the only one in school. Elliana 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, Elliana and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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