Head to head · Girls' names
Alexandria vs Alison
#474 vs #476 in 2025
Alexandria is a whisker ahead (#474 vs #476 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Alexandria is stepping back from its peak, Alison is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Alison has the edge.
Each name in full: Alexandria · Alison
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, Alexandria leads 4 measures of 6; Alison 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
Alexandria — stepping back from its peak. About 102,000 people named Alexandria are estimated to be alive in the US today.
Alison — holding its place on the charts. About 111,000 people named Alison are estimated to be alive in the US today.
Who owned which decade
- 1900s: Alexandria #1611, Alison #1800 — Alexandria higher
- 1910s: Alexandria #1168, Alison #1939 — Alexandria higher
- 1920s: Alexandria #1376, Alison #2048 — Alexandria higher
- 1930s: Alexandria #1970, Alison #1241 — Alison higher
- 1940s: Alexandria #1513, Alison #783 — Alison higher
- 1950s: Alexandria #1615, Alison #360 — Alison higher
- 1960s: Alexandria #1333, Alison #250 — Alison higher
- 1970s: Alexandria #891, Alison #137 — Alison higher
- 1980s: Alexandria #310, Alison #108 — Alison higher
- 1990s: Alexandria #78, Alison #161 — Alexandria higher
- 2000s: Alexandria #137, Alison #248 — Alexandria higher
- 2010s: Alexandria #230, Alison #326 — Alexandria higher
- 2020s: Alexandria #403, Alison #464 — Alexandria higher
Alexandria stood higher in 7 of 13 decades; Alexandria has held the lead since the 1990s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Alexandria | Alison |
|---|---|---|
| 1900s | #1611 | #1800 |
| 1910s | #1168 | #1939 |
| 1920s | #1376 | #2048 |
| 1930s | #1970 | #1241 |
| 1940s | #1513 | #783 |
| 1950s | #1615 | #360 |
| 1960s | #1333 | #250 |
| 1970s | #891 | #137 |
| 1980s | #310 | #108 |
| 1990s | #78 | #161 |
| 2000s | #137 | #248 |
| 2010s | #230 | #326 |
| 2020s | #403 | #464 |
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
Alexandria
defender of men
From Greek alexein, 'to defend', and the stem andr-, 'man'. The same two pieces sit inside Alexander and Alexandra.
Alexandros → Alexandreia → Alexandra → Alexandria
How it traveled
The root is Greek: Alexandros, a name attested long before Alexander the Great, with the feminine Alexandra in use in antiquity as well. When Alexander founded his city on the Egyptian coast in the fourth century BC, it took the Greek feminine form of his name — Alexandreia — and other Alexandrias followed him across the ancient world.
Alison
noble
Alison is Alice with the Old French diminutive -on: Alis plus -on, exactly as Marie gives Marion and Pierre gives Perrin. Alice runs back through Adelais to the Germanic adal, noble. So the name is little Alice, at a distance of nine hundred years.
adal → Adelais → Alice → Alison
How it traveled
The -on and -in endings were the ordinary French way of making a pet form in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and English took a handful of the results as names in their own right: Alison, Marion, Perrin, Robin, Colin, Jocelin. Alison arrived with the Normans and was common enough by Chaucer's time to be the obvious name for an ordinary woman.
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
Alexandria
al-ig-ZAN-dree-uh
Stress on the third syllable. Some speakers say al-ek-ZAN-dree-uh; both are ordinary and nobody will correct you.
- Alex — The default informal shortening; also a full given name of its own for both men and women.
- Lexi — Widely used informally and independently established as a given name in its own right.
- Lexie — Spelling variant of Lexi, used the same way.
- Alexa — Used as a short form and as a standalone name; now also the name of a voice assistant.
- Also Allie, Sandra.
Alison
AL-ih-sun
Three syllables, stress on the first. Alison, Allison and Alyson are said identically; the doubled l is the commoner American spelling and changes nothing.
- Ali — The front; shared with Alice, Alexandra and Alicia, and used for either child.
- Allie — The same sound spelled with two l's; a full name of its own.
- Sonny — Built from the ending; used within families and more often for boys.
One short form, two names
- Alexandria and Alison both shorten to Allie.
Short forms as recorded on each name’s own page. This is here so it is a decision rather than a discovery.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Alexandria if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsAlexandria is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itAlexandria runs 5 syllables, Alison 3
- plenty of nickname options6 recorded short forms — Alex, Lexi and Lexie
- a name that feels very nowAlexandria is stepping back from its peak
Choose Alison if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesAlison is 3 syllables to Alexandria's 5
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 71% for Alexandria
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
Alexandria
Strengths
- A spelling almost everyone already knows from the map, so it rarely needs to be spelled out letter by letter.
- Ready-made short forms in real use — Alex, Lexi, Alexa, Sandra — covering both formal and casual registers.
- Documented back to ancient Greek, with an unbroken record on American charts across more than a century.
To consider
- One letter from Alexandra, and the two are constantly swapped. Expect a lifetime of saying 'with an i-a at the end' on forms and in email.
- Five syllables mean other people will shorten it, usually to Alex or Lexi, whether or not that is the plan at home.
- In the United States the full name currently calls to mind one heavily covered member of Congress for many people; how much that registers depends on where you are and how the news is running.
Alison
Strengths
- A settled Germanic meaning at the end of a fully documented chain.
- Three short forms, two of which are full names in their own right.
- Continuous documented use in English and Scots for eight hundred years.
To consider
- Allison with two l's is commoner in America, so the spelling will be given often.
- It is strongly represented among people now in their thirties and forties, which places it in time.
- The very few boys given this spelling will be read as girls on paper.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Alexandria
71%chance Alexandria feels dated by 2040
Alexandria is coming down from a big peak (#69 in 1993). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
Alison
40%chance Alison feels dated by 2040
Alison 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 Alexandria and Alison 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 Alexandria and Alison?
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
- One-decade wonders
- Five-syllable names: the longest in real use
- Names with an X in them
- Place names on the map and the birth certificate
- all guides
Where Alexandria and Alison each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Alexandria or Alison — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Alexandria or Alison?
- Alexandria, in 2025: Alexandria ranked #474 with 647 babies; Alison ranked #476 with 644 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Alexandria or Alison?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Alexandria moved down 154 places; Alison moved down 36 places.
- Which is the older name, Alexandria or Alison?
- Alexandria entered the US charts in 1902; Alison entered the US charts in 1905. On the American record, Alexandria is the older name.
- How many people are named Alexandria and Alison?
- About 102,000 people named Alexandria are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 111,000 people named Alison are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Do Alexandria and Alison share a nickname?
- Yes — both shorten to Allie, so in a house with both names the short form would not say which child is meant.
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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