Head to head · Girls' names
Alexandra vs Nyla
#237 vs #236 in 2025
Nyla is a whisker ahead (#236 vs #237 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Nyla is holding its place on the charts, Alexandra is stepping back from its peak.
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
The tape is even: Alexandra and Nyla each lead 3 measures of 6.
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
- 1890s: Alexandra #1344, Nyla — — Alexandra higher
- 1900s: Alexandra #1431, Nyla — — Alexandra higher
- 1910s: Alexandra #1163, Nyla #3222 — Alexandra higher
- 1920s: Alexandra #1299, Nyla #1768 — Alexandra higher
- 1930s: Alexandra #1152, Nyla #1204 — Alexandra higher
- 1940s: Alexandra #735, Nyla #1174 — Alexandra higher
- 1950s: Alexandra #745, Nyla #1352 — Alexandra higher
- 1960s: Alexandra #573, Nyla #2452 — Alexandra higher
- 1970s: Alexandra #332, Nyla #3718 — Alexandra higher
- 1980s: Alexandra #126, Nyla #4364 — Alexandra higher
- 1990s: Alexandra #30, Nyla #2924 — Alexandra higher
- 2000s: Alexandra #44, Nyla #523 — Alexandra higher
- 2010s: Alexandra #98, Nyla #316 — Alexandra higher
- 2020s: Alexandra #193, Nyla #238 — Alexandra higher
Alexandra stood higher in every recorded decade — 14 of 14.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Alexandra | Nyla |
|---|---|---|
| 1890s | #1344 | — |
| 1900s | #1431 | — |
| 1910s | #1163 | #3222 |
| 1920s | #1299 | #1768 |
| 1930s | #1152 | #1204 |
| 1940s | #735 | #1174 |
| 1950s | #745 | #1352 |
| 1960s | #573 | #2452 |
| 1970s | #332 | #3718 |
| 1980s | #126 | #4364 |
| 1990s | #30 | #2924 |
| 2000s | #44 | #523 |
| 2010s | #98 | #316 |
| 2020s | #193 | #238 |
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
Alexandra
Defender of men
The Greek elements are a verb about defending and the word for men. The reading is not disputed. What is disputed is how old the name is, because a form of it appears in records from a civilization that predates classical Greece.
Alexandros → Alexandra
How it traveled
A Hittite treaty names a king of Wilusa called Alaksandu — a Greek-sounding name on the western edge of Anatolia, in a city most scholars now identify with Troy, several centuries before Homer. Whether that man has anything to do with the Alexandros who appears in the Iliad as another name for Paris is one of the better arguments in Bronze Age history and is not settled.
Nyla
"one who attains" (Arabic) or "dark blue" (Sanskrit), depending on which root you follow
Two serious readings sit behind the same spelling. Nyla is a common English respelling of the Arabic Nāʾila (نائلة), from a root meaning to attain or obtain — so "achiever, one who wins what she seeks." It is also written for Nila or Neela, from Sanskrit nīla, "dark blue, indigo" — the same word behind the indigo plant. A third path is simply English sound-building, on the pattern of Kyla, Lyla and Layla, where no meaning is intended at all. Families choose which line they mean; the spelling does not decide it.
Nāʾila → Naila → Nyla
How it traveled
Nāʾila is a classical Arabic name of long standing, and it traveled with Arabic-speaking and Muslim communities into English-speaking countries, where it was written many ways — Naila, Nailah, Nyla. Separately, nīla, the Sanskrit word for dark blue, gave South Asia the name Nila or Neela, which also reached English spelling as Nyla.
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
Alexandra
al-ig-ZAN-druh
Four syllables with the stress on the third. Every European language stresses it in the same place.
- Alex — The front clipped, unisex and understood everywhere.
- Sasha — The Russian short form, which keeps nothing of the original sound.
- Lexi — Cut from the middle, and a complete name in current American use.
Nyla
NY-lah
First syllable rhymes with "my." Families using the Arabic Nāʾila may say nah-EE-lah, and those using the South Asian Nila or Neela say NEE-lah — worth deciding early, since the spelling supports all three.
- Ny — The usual informal clip, used at home and among friends; rarely written down.
- Nylie — An affectionate lengthening, most often used by family with young children.
- Ny-Ny — A doubled nursery form, common in early childhood and usually dropped later.
Who has carried each name
Alexandra
Alexandra Daddario (b. 1986) — The White Lotus Emmy nominee
Alexandra David-Néel (b. 1868) — Explorer who snuck into the forbidden city of Lhasa in 1924
Nyla
No documented entry for Nyla yet.
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 Alexandra if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsAlexandra is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itAlexandra runs 4 syllables, Nyla 2
- a name that feels very nowAlexandra is stepping back from its peak
Choose Nyla if you want…
- a name on the way upup 11 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesNyla is 2 syllables to Alexandra's 4
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 80% for Alexandra
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
Alexandra
Strengths
- It is understood in every European language with almost no change of spelling.
- It carries an unusually large set of short forms with very different registers.
- The meaning is settled and strong.
To consider
- It is long, and a short form will do most of the work.
- The spelling is recorded for boys as well, though it belongs overwhelmingly to the girls.
- It has been well used for a long time, so she may not be the only one.
Nyla
Strengths
- Two syllables, phonetic in English: most people read NY-lah correctly on first sight without being told.
- Sits in a well-known sound family alongside Lyla, Kyla and Layla, so the shape is already familiar to American ears.
- Has real standing in Arabic and South Asian naming traditions as well as English, which travels well across families.
To consider
- The spelling competes with Nyla, Nila, Naila and Nailah, all pronounced somewhat differently. Expect to spell it and occasionally to correct the vowel — a short, repeatable correction, but a lifelong one.
- Because the sound-alikes are everywhere — Lyla, Layla, Kyla, Mila — she may be called by a neighboring name now and then, particularly in a classroom or on a roll call.
- The meaning depends on which root a family claims. That is worth settling for yourselves, since relatives may assume a different one than you intended.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Alexandra
80%chance Alexandra feels dated by 2040
Alexandra is coming down from a big peak (#26 in 1995). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
Nyla
40%chance Nyla feels dated by 2040
Nyla sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
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 Alexandra and Nyla 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 Alexandra and Nyla?
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
- Beloved classics quietly disappearing
- Long and elegant: names with room to breathe
- Names of the '80s and '90s, currently resting
- Generation Z names (born 1997–2012)
- all guides
Where Alexandra and Nyla each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Alexandra or Nyla — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Alexandra or Nyla?
- Nyla, in 2025: Nyla ranked #236 with 1,315 babies; Alexandra ranked #237 with 1,314 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Alexandra or Nyla?
- Nyla. Over the last five years Alexandra moved down 99 places; Nyla moved up 11 places.
- Which is the older name, Alexandra or Nyla?
- Alexandra entered the US charts in 1894; Nyla entered the US charts in 1915. On the American record, Alexandra is the older name.
- How many people are named Alexandra and Nyla?
- About 240,000 people named Alexandra are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 26,500 people named Nyla are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Alexandras or Nylas in the classroom?
- Alexandra will almost certainly be the only one in school. Nyla 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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