Head to head · Girls' names
Alana vs Sloane
#140 vs #141 in 2025 · both climbing the charts fast
Alana is a whisker ahead (#140 vs #141 in 2025) and both are climbing the charts fast. 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
On the charts, Alana leads 5 measures of 6; Sloane leads 0.
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, Sloane — — Alana higher
- 1940s: Alana #1442, Sloane — — Alana higher
- 1950s: Alana #827, Sloane #4890 — Alana higher
- 1960s: Alana #746, Sloane #3232 — Alana higher
- 1970s: Alana #540, Sloane #3843 — Alana higher
- 1980s: Alana #350, Sloane #3831 — Alana higher
- 1990s: Alana #313, Sloane #1886 — Alana higher
- 2000s: Alana #193, Sloane #1494 — Alana higher
- 2010s: Alana #196, Sloane #354 — Alana higher
- 2020s: Alana #184, Sloane #152 — Sloane higher
Alana stood higher in 9 of 10 decades; Sloane took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Alana | Sloane |
|---|---|---|
| 1930s | #3927 | — |
| 1940s | #1442 | — |
| 1950s | #827 | #4890 |
| 1960s | #746 | #3232 |
| 1970s | #540 | #3843 |
| 1980s | #350 | #3831 |
| 1990s | #313 | #1886 |
| 2000s | #193 | #1494 |
| 2010s | #196 | #354 |
| 2020s | #184 | #152 |
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.
Sloane
from the Irish for "host" or "army" — often rendered "raider" or "warrior"
The surname is an anglicization of Ó Sluagháin, built on Irish sluagh, "host, throng, army"; the personal name behind it is a diminutive of that word.
Ó Sluagháin → Sloan → Sloane
How it traveled
Sloane is a surname first, from the Irish Ó Sluagháin — a family line recorded chiefly in Ulster, later spelled Sloan and Sloane by English-speaking clerks. Sir Hans Sloane, born in County Down in the seventeenth century and physician in London, carried it into public memory; the Chelsea square named for him later lent its name to the 1980s British phrase "Sloane Ranger" for a certain kind of well-heeled young Londoner.
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.
Sloane
SLOHN
One syllable, rhyming with "loan". The final e is silent and does not change the sound from Sloan.
- Sloanie — The usual affectionate form within families; rarely used outside them.
- Slo — Informal, mostly among friends and teammates.
Who has carried each name
Alana
No documented entry for Alana yet.
Sloane
Sloane Stephens (b. 1993) — US Open tennis champion
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, Sloane 1
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Lana, Allie and Ally
Choose Sloane if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesSloane is 1 syllable to Alana's 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.
Sloane
Strengths
- One syllable and one obvious pronunciation: nobody has to ask twice how to say it.
- A documented Irish surname with centuries of written record behind it, not a recent coinage.
- Two accepted spellings, Sloane and Sloan, both already familiar to English speakers.
To consider
- Sloane and Sloan sound identical, so expect a lifetime of confirming which spelling — the final e is the part people drop.
- In Britain, "Sloane" still carries the echo of the 1980s "Sloane Ranger", a label for posh young Londoners. It reads as class-marked to some British ears in a way it does not in the US.
- At one syllable it resists shortening, so there is little to fall back on if a child wants a different everyday name.
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 Sloane 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 Sloane?
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 Sloane — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Alana or Sloane — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Alana or Sloane?
- Alana, in 2025: Alana ranked #140 with 2,085 babies; Sloane ranked #141 with 2,077 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Alana or Sloane?
- Alana. Over the last five years Alana moved up 66 places; Sloane moved up 40 places.
- Which is the older name, Alana or Sloane?
- Alana entered the US charts in 1930; Sloane entered the US charts in 1958. On the American record, Alana is the older name.
- How many people are named Alana and Sloane?
- About 66,500 people named Alana are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 24,500 people named Sloane are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Alanas or Sloanes in the classroom?
- Alana will almost certainly be the only one in school. Sloane 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, Sloane and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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