Head to head · Girls' names
Alanna vs Lena
#280 vs #279 in 2025
Lena is a whisker ahead (#279 vs #280 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Lena is holding its place on the charts, Alanna is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Alanna 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
On the charts, Lena leads 5 measures of 6; Alanna leads 1.
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: Alanna —, Lena #44 — Lena higher
- 1890s: Alanna —, Lena #47 — Lena higher
- 1900s: Alanna —, Lena #59 — Lena higher
- 1910s: Alanna —, Lena #79 — Lena higher
- 1920s: Alanna —, Lena #118 — Lena higher
- 1930s: Alanna #3142, Lena #179 — Lena higher
- 1940s: Alanna #2266, Lena #259 — Lena higher
- 1950s: Alanna #1631, Lena #362 — Lena higher
- 1960s: Alanna #1675, Lena #420 — Lena higher
- 1970s: Alanna #937, Lena #433 — Lena higher
- 1980s: Alanna #638, Lena #473 — Lena higher
- 1990s: Alanna #493, Lena #536 — Alanna higher
- 2000s: Alanna #483, Lena #490 — Alanna higher
- 2010s: Alanna #524, Lena #313 — Lena higher
- 2020s: Alanna #452, Lena #272 — Lena higher
Lena stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Lena has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Alanna | Lena |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #44 |
| 1890s | — | #47 |
| 1900s | — | #59 |
| 1910s | — | #79 |
| 1920s | — | #118 |
| 1930s | #3142 | #179 |
| 1940s | #2266 | #259 |
| 1950s | #1631 | #362 |
| 1960s | #1675 | #420 |
| 1970s | #937 | #433 |
| 1980s | #638 | #473 |
| 1990s | #493 | #536 |
| 2000s | #483 | #490 |
| 2010s | #524 | #313 |
| 2020s | #452 | #272 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Alanna
Not charting outside the US.
Lena
- Canada#80
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Alanna
Most often read as a feminine form of Alan; also tied to the Irish English endearment alannah, "O child"
Two serious readings compete. The first treats Alanna as a feminine form of Alan, an Old Breton name whose own meaning has never been settled — "rock" and "deer" have both been proposed, neither proven. The second connects it to alannah, an Anglo-Irish term of endearment recorded in dictionaries and drawn from Irish a leanbh, "O child". A third reading links it to Irish álainn, "beautiful". None of the three has pushed the others out.
Alan (Old Breton) → Alan (Norman and Middle English) → Alana → Alanna
How it traveled
Alan arrived in England from Brittany in the eleventh century and settled in so thoroughly that it became an English name outright, then a surname, then a name again. The feminine forms — Alana, Alanna, Alannah — are much younger, products of the twentieth century's habit of building girls' names from established boys' ones.
Lena
Depends on the longer name behind it: "of Magdala" through Magdalena, or the disputed sense of Helen through Helena.
Lena is a short form, so its meaning is inherited rather than its own. Through Magdalena it points to Magdala, a town on the Sea of Galilee. Through Helena and Russian Yelena it goes back to Greek Helenē, whose sense is genuinely unsettled — the usual gloss is "torch" or "light", connected to Greek helenē, but scholars have never closed the case. Both routes are real, and a Lena can be told either story truthfully.
Helenē → Helena → Magdalena / Yelena → Lena
How it traveled
Lena is a clipping, and it happened independently in several languages at once. Across German, Scandinavian, Slavic, Italian and Iberian speech, the long names ending in -lena and -lina — Helena, Magdalena, Yelena, Angelina, Karolina — were worn down in daily use to their last two syllables, and the fragment held.
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
Alanna
uh-LAN-uh
Two pronunciations are both in real use: uh-LAN-uh with the vowel of "can", and uh-LAH-nuh with the vowel of "father". Neither is wrong, so it is worth deciding which one you want said and saying it first.
- Lana — The most common short form, and a well-established given name in its own right.
- Ally — Informal, often school-age; also spelled Alli or Allie.
- Annie — Informal and affectionate; stands alone as a given name too.
- Lanie — Informal family use, sometimes spelled Laney.
- Also Ana.
Lena
LEE-nuh
LEE-nuh is the usual American reading. In German, Swedish, Polish and much of the rest of Europe it is LAY-nuh, and plenty of American families use that pronunciation too. Both are correct for the same spelling, so it is worth deciding which one you will be repeating.
- Leni — Common in German-speaking usage and used as a standalone given name there; informal in English.
- Lenka — The standard Czech and Slovak diminutive, and a full given name in its own right in those countries.
- Len — Casual clipping, mostly family use; also an established short form of the men's name Leonard.
- Lee — Informal, and a given name and surname on its own for both men and women in English.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Alanna if you want…
- a name on the way upup 281 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itAlanna runs 3 syllables, Lena 2
- a newer arrivalAlanna entered the US charts in 1930
- a name that feels very nowAlanna is climbing the charts fast
Choose Lena if you want…
- a name holding steadyLena is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesLena is 2 syllables to Alanna's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooLena is on the national lists of Canada
- a long American recordLena was already in use when US records began in 1880
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
Alanna
Strengths
- Built on Alan, a name English speakers have known for nearly a thousand years, so the spelling reads correctly on sight even to people who have never met an Alanna.
- Ready-made short forms already in circulation: Lana, Ally, Annie.
- In continuous American use across many generations, and currently moving up rather than drifting out of fashion.
To consider
- It sits in a crowded cluster — Alana, Alannah, Alanah, Alaina — that all sound close to identical. Expect a lifetime of spelling it out, and expect forms and rosters to guess wrong now and then.
- The two accepted pronunciations, uh-LAN-uh and uh-LAH-nuh, mean she will occasionally correct people, or decide not to bother.
- The meaning is genuinely unsettled. If you want one clean line to give relatives, this name will not supply it — though it will supply three interesting ones.
Lena
Strengths
- The same spelling works unchanged in German, Swedish, Polish, Italian and Portuguese, and transliterates directly from Russian.
- Short, phonetic and easy to write early — five letters, no silent parts, no double consonants to remember.
- Pairs with a longer legal name if you want one: Helena, Magdalena, Elena and Karolina all shorten to it naturally.
To consider
- Two live pronunciations, LEE-nuh and LAY-nuh, means a lifetime of gentle corrections in mixed company — not a problem, but a small recurring one.
- Lina, Leena and Lenna all exist, so expect the occasional misspelling from people who have met one of the others first.
- It is already a diminutive, so there is not much left to shorten. Families who like a pet name usually reach sideways, to Leni or Lulu, rather than down.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Alanna
58%chance Alanna feels dated by 2040
Alanna 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.
Lena
25%chance Lena feels dated by 2040
Lena peaked long ago yet still holds steady — names that survive their own wave usually settle into quiet, durable classics.
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 Alanna and Lena 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
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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 Alanna and Lena — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Alanna or Lena — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Alanna or Lena?
- Lena, in 2025: Lena ranked #279 with 1,106 babies; Alanna ranked #280 with 1,099 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Alanna or Lena?
- Alanna. Over the last five years Alanna moved up 281 places; Lena moved down 8 places.
- Which is the older name, Alanna or Lena?
- Alanna entered the US charts in 1930; Lena was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Lena is the older name.
- How many people are named Alanna and Lena?
- About 26,500 people named Alanna are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 54,000 people named Lena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Alannas or Lenas in the classroom?
- Alanna will almost certainly be the only one in school. Lena will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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