Head to head · Girls' names
Alara vs Andie
#652 vs #650 in 2025 · both climbing the charts fast
Andie is a whisker ahead (#650 vs #652 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, Andie leads 5 measures of 6; Alara 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
- 1940s: Alara —, Andie #4556 — Andie higher
- 1950s: Alara —, Andie #5296 — Andie higher
- 1960s: Alara —, Andie #6144 — Andie higher
- 1970s: Alara —, Andie #8290 — Andie higher
- 1980s: Alara #10847, Andie #7431 — Andie higher
- 1990s: Alara #9408, Andie #1835 — Andie higher
- 2000s: Alara #4621, Andie #1652 — Andie higher
- 2010s: Alara #3144, Andie #1482 — Andie higher
- 2020s: Alara #1365, Andie #970 — Andie higher
Andie stood higher in every recorded decade — 9 of 9.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Alara | Andie |
|---|---|---|
| 1940s | — | #4556 |
| 1950s | — | #5296 |
| 1960s | — | #6144 |
| 1970s | — | #8290 |
| 1980s | #10847 | #7431 |
| 1990s | #9408 | #1835 |
| 2000s | #4621 | #1652 |
| 2010s | #3144 | #1482 |
| 2020s | #1365 | #970 |
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
Alara
Not established
No established meaning. Baby-name sites widely repeat that Alara was a water fairy in Turkish mythology, but that claim has no traceable source in the folklore record. What is documented: the Alara River in Antalya province, southern Turkey, and the Seljuk-era Alara Castle and Alarahan caravanserai beside it; and modern use of Alara as a girl's given name in Turkey.
How it traveled
The clearest anchor for Alara is Turkey. The Alara River runs down from the Taurus mountains to the Mediterranean near Alanya, past a castle and a caravanserai built in the thirteenth century under the Seljuk sultans — the same syllables now given to daughters across Turkey.
Andie
From the Greek root andr-, 'man', by way of Andrew and Andrea
Andie is a short form rather than a name coined on its own, so its meaning is borrowed from whichever longer name stands behind it. Most often that is Andrea or Andrew, both from Greek Andreas, built on anēr, andros, 'man' — hence the traditional gloss 'manly, brave'. It also serves as a short form of Alexandra and Cassandra, where the same andr- element sits inside the longer word.
Andreas → Andrew → Andrea → Andie
How it traveled
Andreas was a common Greek personal name long before it traveled, and it spread across Christian Europe as Andrew, Andreas, André and Andrea — the last of these a man's name in Italy and a woman's name almost everywhere else. English speakers have clipped it to Andy for centuries, and the -ie spelling followed the same path that gave Charlie and Frankie their softer look, landing largely on the girls' side of American records.
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
Alara
uh-LAR-uh
The common American reading puts the weight on the middle syllable. Turkish speakers more often stress the last, closer to a-la-RA, with all three vowels kept full and open. Both are correct, and families often use one at home and accept the other outside it.
- Lara — The obvious short form in English, and a standalone given name in its own right across Russian, Italian, Spanish and Turkish.
- Ally — Informal, and the route most likely to be offered by classmates rather than chosen at home.
- Ala — A clipped, mostly household form; keeps the opening vowel that Lara drops.
Andie
AN-dee
Two syllables, stress on the first, identical in sound to Andy and Andi. The A is flat, as in 'hand'.
- Andi — The most common alternative spelling; used interchangeably and also given as a full name on its own.
- Andy — The oldest spelling of the three, still used mostly for men and boys as a short form of Andrew.
- Andrea — Not a nickname but the formal name Andie most often shortens from; some families put it on the birth certificate and use Andie daily.
- Alexandra — Another long form behind the nickname, chosen by parents who want a full-length option on paper.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Alara if you want…
- a name on the way upup 1,294 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itAlara runs 3 syllables, Andie 2
Choose Andie if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesAndie is 2 syllables to Alara'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
Alara
Strengths
- Reads correctly on first sight for most English speakers — the letters are the ones already familiar from Lara, Clara and Alana.
- Lara is a ready-made short form that works as a full name on its own, so the child has a second register available.
- No silent letters, no consonant clusters; it survives being spelled aloud over a phone.
To consider
- The "water fairy of Turkish mythology" meaning circulates everywhere online and has no source behind it. If you love the name, love it for its sound and its Anatolian footing — not for a translation someone can look up and dispute.
- It sits a single letter from Elara, a name from Greek mythology now also carried by a moon of Jupiter, and close to Alora, Alaia and Alayna. Expect occasional mishearing and a lifetime of gentle corrections.
- The name is climbing quickly. A child born now is unlikely to meet another, but that could look different by the time she is in high school — worth knowing if rarity is part of the appeal.
Andie
Strengths
- Says itself on first sight — no one hesitates over how to pronounce it, in any English-speaking country.
- Works either as a standalone name or as the everyday form of Andrea, Alexandra or Cassandra, so a family can decide later how formal to be.
- Sits on a very old root, Greek Andreas, with relatives in Italian, Spanish, French, German and Portuguese.
To consider
- Three spellings compete — Andie, Andi and Andy — and none is dominant enough to be assumed. Expect to spell it out over the phone for life, and to receive mail with the other two.
- Said aloud, it is indistinguishable from Andy, which most Americans still hear as a man's name. On paper the -ie spelling reads female; on a voicemail it may not.
- It is rising quickly rather than sitting still. A child named Andie is unlikely to share a classroom with another one now, but the name is moving upward, not resting.
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 Alara and Andie 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 Alara and Andie?
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 these names appear on
- Turkish and Armenian names in American use
- Names ranked #601–1000: known, but barely shared
- all guides
Where Alara and Andie each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Alara or Andie — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Alara or Andie?
- Andie, in 2025: Andie ranked #650 with 443 babies; Alara ranked #652 with 441 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Alara or Andie?
- Alara. Over the last five years Alara moved up 1,294 places; Andie moved up 477 places.
- Which is the older name, Alara or Andie?
- Alara entered the US charts in 1989; Andie entered the US charts in 1945. On the American record, Andie is the older name.
- How many people are named Alara and Andie?
- About 2,200 people named Alara are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 5,500 people named Andie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Alaras or Andies in the classroom?
- Alara will almost certainly be the only one in school. Andie 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
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