Head to head · Girls' names
Alara vs Irene
#652 vs #651 in 2025
Irene is a whisker ahead (#651 vs #652 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Irene is holding its place on the charts, Alara is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Alara 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, Irene 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
- 1880s: Alara —, Irene #86 — Irene higher
- 1890s: Alara —, Irene #45 — Irene higher
- 1900s: Alara —, Irene #25 — Irene higher
- 1910s: Alara —, Irene #19 — Irene higher
- 1920s: Alara —, Irene #21 — Irene higher
- 1930s: Alara —, Irene #53 — Irene higher
- 1940s: Alara —, Irene #93 — Irene higher
- 1950s: Alara —, Irene #141 — Irene higher
- 1960s: Alara —, Irene #218 — Irene higher
- 1970s: Alara —, Irene #299 — Irene higher
- 1980s: Alara #10847, Irene #340 — Irene higher
- 1990s: Alara #9408, Irene #431 — Irene higher
- 2000s: Alara #4621, Irene #563 — Irene higher
- 2010s: Alara #3144, Irene #649 — Irene higher
- 2020s: Alara #1365, Irene #652 — Irene higher
Irene stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Alara | Irene |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #86 |
| 1890s | — | #45 |
| 1900s | — | #25 |
| 1910s | — | #19 |
| 1920s | — | #21 |
| 1930s | — | #53 |
| 1940s | — | #93 |
| 1950s | — | #141 |
| 1960s | — | #218 |
| 1970s | — | #299 |
| 1980s | #10847 | #340 |
| 1990s | #9408 | #431 |
| 2000s | #4621 | #563 |
| 2010s | #3144 | #649 |
| 2020s | #1365 | #652 |
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.
Irene
peace
The Greek word is the ordinary term for peace, still current in modern Greek, and the reading is settled. It was a personal name in antiquity as well as an abstraction, which is unusual: most Greek names are compounds, and a bare common noun used as a name stands out in that company.
The Greek common noun for peace → A goddess with a statue of peace holding wealth → An early Christian name across the Greek world → Irene in English use since the Renaissance
How it traveled
Three sisters were executed at Thessalonica during the last great persecution for refusing to give up their books. The order had gone out that Christian writings were to be surrendered and burned, and the sisters had hidden a collection of them; the surviving account of their trial is unusually detailed, and much of it is the interrogation of the youngest about where the books were and who had helped her.
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.
Irene
eye-REEN
Two syllables in America with the stress in the middle. Greek, Italian and German all say it with three and sound the final vowel, so a bearer traveling in Europe will hear her name given an extra syllable everywhere she goes.
- Renie — The back softened, warm and used inside families.
- Rene — The back, which is also a French name of its own.
- Ira — Built from the front, and a complete name in its own right.
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, Irene 2
- a newer arrivalAlara entered the US charts in 1989
- a name that feels very nowAlara is climbing the charts fast
Choose Irene if you want…
- a name holding steadyIrene is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesIrene is 2 syllables to Alara's 3
- a long American recordIrene was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 62% for Alara
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.
Irene
Strengths
- The meaning is a single word and is the same in modern Greek today.
- It is used essentially unchanged across most of Europe.
- It works on the register for either child, which the record confirms.
To consider
- The two-syllable and three-syllable readings are both correct somewhere.
- It is strongly associated with the earlier twentieth century.
- Irena and Irina are close enough to be written for it constantly.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Alara
62%chance Alara feels dated by 2040
Alara 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.
Irene
12%chance Irene feels dated by 2040
Irene has held the top-100 across 7 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
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 Alara and Irene 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 Irene?
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 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
- Greatest Generation names (born 1901–1927)
- Names that work in Spanish and English
- Names that belong entirely to the 1910s
- all guides
Where Alara and Irene each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Alara or Irene — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Alara or Irene?
- Irene, in 2025: Irene ranked #651 with 442 babies; Alara ranked #652 with 441 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Alara or Irene?
- Alara. Over the last five years Alara moved up 1,294 places; Irene moved down 33 places.
- Which is the older name, Alara or Irene?
- Alara entered the US charts in 1989; Irene was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Irene is the older name.
- How many people are named Alara and Irene?
- About 2,200 people named Alara are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 103,000 people named Irene are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Alaras or Irenes in the classroom?
- Alara will almost certainly be the only one in school. Irene 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
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