Head to head · Girls' names
Alexandria vs Felicity
#474 vs #473 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Felicity is a whisker ahead (#473 vs #474 in 2025) and both are stepping back from its peak. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Each name in full: Alexandria · Felicity
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 3 measures of 6; Felicity leads 2.
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.
Felicity — stepping back from its peak. About 18,500 people named Felicity are estimated to be alive in the US today.
Who owned which decade
- 1900s: Alexandria #1611, Felicity — — Alexandria higher
- 1910s: Alexandria #1168, Felicity — — Alexandria higher
- 1920s: Alexandria #1376, Felicity — — Alexandria higher
- 1930s: Alexandria #1970, Felicity #3559 — Alexandria higher
- 1940s: Alexandria #1513, Felicity #4310 — Alexandria higher
- 1950s: Alexandria #1615, Felicity #4211 — Alexandria higher
- 1960s: Alexandria #1333, Felicity #3429 — Alexandria higher
- 1970s: Alexandria #891, Felicity #2244 — Alexandria higher
- 1980s: Alexandria #310, Felicity #2210 — Alexandria higher
- 1990s: Alexandria #78, Felicity #1390 — Alexandria higher
- 2000s: Alexandria #137, Felicity #633 — Alexandria higher
- 2010s: Alexandria #230, Felicity #493 — Alexandria higher
- 2020s: Alexandria #403, Felicity #448 — Alexandria higher
Alexandria stood higher in every recorded decade — 13 of 13.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Alexandria | Felicity |
|---|---|---|
| 1900s | #1611 | — |
| 1910s | #1168 | — |
| 1920s | #1376 | — |
| 1930s | #1970 | #3559 |
| 1940s | #1513 | #4310 |
| 1950s | #1615 | #4211 |
| 1960s | #1333 | #3429 |
| 1970s | #891 | #2244 |
| 1980s | #310 | #2210 |
| 1990s | #78 | #1390 |
| 2000s | #137 | #633 |
| 2010s | #230 | #493 |
| 2020s | #403 | #448 |
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.
Felicity
Happiness, good fortune
From Latin felicitas, from felix — fortunate, fruitful, happy. The same root gives the name Felix.
Felix → Felicitas → Félicité → Felicity
How it traveled
Felicitas was a Roman personification of good fortune, honored with temples in the city and stamped on Roman coins. The word passed into Christian use as a name, carried by Felicitas, a martyr venerated at Rome from the early centuries of the church, and it spread through medieval Europe as Félicité in France and Felicita in Italy.
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.
Felicity
fuh-LIS-uh-tee
Stress on the second syllable, exactly like the English noun felicity. Some speakers compress the ending to fuh-LIS-tee in quick speech.
- Flick — Long-established informal short form, chiefly British and Australian; rarely used as a name on its own.
- Fliss — Informal, also mostly British; occasionally spelled Flis or Flissy.
- Lissy — Informal, taken from the middle of the name; also spelled Lissie.
- Fee — Casual family short form, one syllable.
- Also Fifi.
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, Felicity 4
- a name that feels very nowAlexandria is stepping back from its peak
Choose Felicity if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesFelicity is 4 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.
Felicity
Strengths
- Spelled the way the English dictionary word is spelled, so most people get it right the first time without being told.
- A documented line running from Roman Latin through medieval France to English, unbroken for centuries.
- Several established informal short forms — Flick, Fliss, Lissy, Fee — so there is room for a nickname without inventing one.
To consider
- Because it is also a common noun, it can be read as a word before it is read as a name — and the noun sounds a touch formal or literary in everyday American English.
- Felicia and Felice are separate names that sound close, so expect the occasional mishearing or correction over the phone.
- In the US the name's whole run is recent, which means nearly everyone carrying it is young — it reads as current rather than inherited.
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.
Felicity
40%chance Felicity feels dated by 2040
Felicity 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 Felicity 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 Felicity?
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.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap
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
- 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 Felicity each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Alexandria or Felicity — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Alexandria or Felicity?
- Felicity, in 2025: Felicity ranked #473 with 653 babies; Alexandria ranked #474 with 647 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Alexandria or Felicity?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Alexandria moved down 154 places; Felicity moved down 90 places.
- Which is the older name, Alexandria or Felicity?
- Alexandria entered the US charts in 1902; Felicity entered the US charts in 1935. On the American record, Alexandria is the older name.
- How many people are named Alexandria and Felicity?
- About 102,000 people named Alexandria are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 18,500 people named Felicity are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Alexandrias or Felicitys in the classroom?
- Alexandria will almost certainly be the only one in school. Felicity 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
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Alexandria, Felicity and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap