Head to head · Boys' names
Albert vs Yahya
#614 vs #615 in 2025
Albert is a whisker ahead (#614 vs #615 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Albert is stepping back from its peak, Yahya is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Yahya 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, Albert leads 5 measures of 6; Yahya 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: Albert #16, Yahya — — Albert higher
- 1890s: Albert #16, Yahya — — Albert higher
- 1900s: Albert #16, Yahya — — Albert higher
- 1910s: Albert #17, Yahya — — Albert higher
- 1920s: Albert #21, Yahya — — Albert higher
- 1930s: Albert #32, Yahya — — Albert higher
- 1940s: Albert #48, Yahya — — Albert higher
- 1950s: Albert #75, Yahya — — Albert higher
- 1960s: Albert #100, Yahya — — Albert higher
- 1970s: Albert #127, Yahya #5054 — Albert higher
- 1980s: Albert #151, Yahya #4509 — Albert higher
- 1990s: Albert #221, Yahya #3973 — Albert higher
- 2000s: Albert #335, Yahya #1953 — Albert higher
- 2010s: Albert #433, Yahya #1094 — Albert higher
- 2020s: Albert #585, Yahya #872 — Albert higher
Albert stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Albert | Yahya |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #16 | — |
| 1890s | #16 | — |
| 1900s | #16 | — |
| 1910s | #17 | — |
| 1920s | #21 | — |
| 1930s | #32 | — |
| 1940s | #48 | — |
| 1950s | #75 | — |
| 1960s | #100 | — |
| 1970s | #127 | #5054 |
| 1980s | #151 | #4509 |
| 1990s | #221 | #3973 |
| 2000s | #335 | #1953 |
| 2010s | #433 | #1094 |
| 2020s | #585 | #872 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Albert
- England & Wales#57
Yahya
- England & Wales#93
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Albert
noble and bright
The Germanic compound joins a word for noble to one for bright or famous. Both elements are among the commonest in the whole stock, and the reading has never been disputed.
Adalberht → Albert
How it traveled
The other Albert worth knowing about taught Thomas Aquinas. Albertus Magnus was a thirteenth-century German friar who wrote about theology, logic, botany, zoology, mineralogy, astronomy and the anatomy of insects, on the principle that observing the world was a legitimate way of thinking about it — which was not the consensus.
Yahya
Traditionally "he lives"; also read as the Arabic form of John, "God is gracious"
Two serious readings compete. Classical Arabic tradition links Yahya to the root ḥ-y-y, "to live," giving "he lives" or "he shall live." Most historical linguists instead trace it through Syriac Yoḥannān back to Hebrew Yoḥanan, "Yahweh is gracious" — the same source as John. Both readings have long standing, and many families hold both at once.
Yoḥanan → Yoḥannān → Yaḥyā → Yahya
How it traveled
The oldest layer is Hebrew Yoḥanan, which passed into Syriac as Yoḥannān among Aramaic-speaking Christians of the Near East. Arabic received the name as Yaḥyā, and the Quran names Yahya as a prophet and the son of Zakariyya, which fixed the form permanently across the Muslim world.
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
Albert
AL-burt
Two syllables with the weight at the front. French says al-BAIR with the final consonant silent, and Italian and Spanish give it three as Alberto.
- Al — The standard American short form; used for women and men both.
- Bert — Cut from the back; a standing name of its own.
- Bertie — The affectionate British form; carried by two kings before they took other names.
Yahya
YAH-yah
Two syllables, both open. In Arabic the middle consonant is a pharyngeal ḥ and the stress falls on the second syllable — closer to yah-HYAA. English speakers reliably land on YAH-yah, which most families accept without correction.
- Yaya — The most widespread short form, especially in West African and French-speaking communities, where it is also given as a full name in its own right.
- Yah — A clipped, informal form used mainly among friends and siblings in English-speaking settings.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Albert if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsAlbert is stepping back from its peak
- a long American recordAlbert was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 55% for Yahya
Choose Yahya if you want…
- a name on the way upup 390 places on the charts in five years
- a newer arrivalYahya entered the US charts in 1972
- a name that feels very nowYahya is climbing the charts fast
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
Albert
Strengths
- It has a form in every European language and is recognized across all of them.
- Al and Bert are established short forms with quite different registers.
- It has an unbroken run in American records from the first year they were kept.
To consider
- It is strongly associated with the first half of the twentieth century in America.
- The spelling is recorded for a small number of girls, though it reads overwhelmingly as a boy's name.
- Two British kings were christened Albert and both chose different names on taking the throne.
Yahya
Strengths
- Recognized on sight across Arabic-speaking, Turkish, South Asian, Southeast Asian and West African communities — one spelling that needs no explanation in a great many places.
- Short, phonetic and symmetrical in English: five letters, no silent parts, and readers almost always get it right on the first try.
- A documented line running back through Syriac to Hebrew, and a fixed place in the Quran that has kept the form stable for centuries.
To consider
- Competing spellings are everywhere — Yahia, Yehya, Yahaya, Yaha — so expect occasional clarification on forms and rosters, even though Yahya itself is the standard Arabic transliteration.
- The Arabic ḥ will not survive English mouths, and the name will usually come back as a flatter YAH-yah. Most families are at peace with this; it is worth deciding in advance whether you are.
- A child named Yahya is unlikely to meet another in the same school. That means no last-initial problem, and also the small work of being the first one people have met.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Albert
12%chance Albert feels dated by 2040
Albert has held the top-100 across 9 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
Yahya
55%chance Yahya feels dated by 2040
Yahya 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.
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 Albert and Yahya 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 Albert and Yahya?
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 that carry both names
- British invasion: UK favorites still rare in the US
- Names ranked #601–1000: known, but barely shared
- all guides
Every list here names both Albert and Yahya — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Albert or Yahya — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Albert or Yahya?
- Albert, in 2025: Albert ranked #614 with 461 babies; Yahya ranked #615 with 455 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Albert or Yahya?
- Yahya. Over the last five years Albert moved down 91 places; Yahya moved up 390 places.
- Which is the older name, Albert or Yahya?
- Albert was already in use when US records began in 1880; Yahya entered the US charts in 1972. On the American record, Albert is the older name.
- How many people are named Albert and Yahya?
- About 179,000 people named Albert are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 4,500 people named Yahya are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Alberts or Yahyas in the classroom?
- Albert will almost certainly be the only one in school. Yahya 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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