Head to head · Girls' names
Alexis vs Angel
#554 vs #546 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Angel is a whisker ahead (#546 vs #554 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.
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, Angel leads 3 measures of 6; Alexis 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
Who owned which decade
- 1890s: Alexis —, Angel #1485 — Angel higher
- 1900s: Alexis —, Angel #1818 — Angel higher
- 1910s: Alexis —, Angel #2699 — Angel higher
- 1920s: Alexis —, Angel #2214 — Angel higher
- 1930s: Alexis #4331, Angel #2033 — Angel higher
- 1940s: Alexis #1116, Angel #1429 — Alexis higher
- 1950s: Alexis #657, Angel #1019 — Alexis higher
- 1960s: Alexis #802, Angel #458 — Angel higher
- 1970s: Alexis #382, Angel #171 — Angel higher
- 1980s: Alexis #119, Angel #169 — Alexis higher
- 1990s: Alexis #24, Angel #161 — Alexis higher
- 2000s: Alexis #11, Angel #137 — Alexis higher
- 2010s: Alexis #95, Angel #288 — Alexis higher
- 2020s: Alexis #419, Angel #498 — Alexis higher
The decades split evenly, 7 each; Alexis has held the lead since the 1980s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Alexis | Angel |
|---|---|---|
| 1890s | — | #1485 |
| 1900s | — | #1818 |
| 1910s | — | #2699 |
| 1920s | — | #2214 |
| 1930s | #4331 | #2033 |
| 1940s | #1116 | #1429 |
| 1950s | #657 | #1019 |
| 1960s | #802 | #458 |
| 1970s | #382 | #171 |
| 1980s | #119 | #169 |
| 1990s | #24 | #161 |
| 2000s | #11 | #137 |
| 2010s | #95 | #288 |
| 2020s | #419 | #498 |
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
Alexis
defender, helper
From the Greek verb alexein, to ward off or defend. The same verb sits at the front of Alexander, which pairs it with aner, 'man'.
Alexios → Alexius → Alexis
How it traveled
The name begins as Greek Alexios, latinized to Alexius and borne by several emperors of Byzantium, among them Alexios I Komnenos in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The legend of Saint Alexius, the beggar who lived unrecognised beneath his family's staircase, spread the name across medieval Europe in sermons and vernacular poems.
Angel
messenger
From Greek angelos, 'messenger', by way of Latin angelus. The religious sense — a divine messenger — grew out of that ordinary word.
angelos → angelus → Ángel → Angel
How it traveled
The Greek angelos meant simply a messenger, someone sent with news, before the translators of the Hebrew Bible into Greek used it for the winged messengers of God and fixed the sense we know now. Latin took it as angelus, and from there it passed into the Romance languages: Ángel in Spanish, Angelo in Italian, Ange in French, alongside Angelos in Greek and Angel in Bulgarian.
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
Alexis
uh-LEK-sis
In French the stress moves to the end and the final s goes silent: uh-lek-SEE. Both are correct for their language, and families with French ties often keep the French sound.
- Alex — The default short form for both boys and girls, and long established as a given name in its own right.
- Lexi — Informal, used mostly for girls; also registered on its own as a given name.
- Lex — Short and unisex, used more often by and for older speakers and in surname-style address.
- Sasha — The Russian diminutive of Aleksei and Aleksandr; used in Slavic families and, in English, as an independent name.
- Also Al.
Angel
AYN-jul
In Spanish the accented Ángel is AHN-hel, with stress on the first syllable and an h-like g. Families who use both languages often use both pronunciations for the same child.
- Angelito — Spanish diminutive, affectionate and family-level rather than formal.
- Ange — Clipped English short form; also a standalone given name in French.
- Angie — Informal; more often attached to Angela or Angelina, and used for girls more than boys.
- Lito — Heard in Spanish-speaking families as a shortening of Angelito.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Alexis if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsAlexis is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itAlexis runs 3 syllables, Angel 2
- a name that feels very nowAlexis is stepping back from its peak
Choose Angel if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesAngel is 2 syllables to Alexis's 3
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 84% for Alexis
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
Alexis
Strengths
- Recognized spelling in English — people write it correctly on the first hearing, without a spelling-out.
- An unbroken record from Byzantine Greek through medieval Latin and French to modern English.
- Several settled short forms already in use: Alex, Lexi, Lex.
To consider
- In the United States this spelling is given almost equally to boys and girls, so a boy named Alexis will meet forms, teachers and strangers who assume otherwise. In France, Russia and much of southern Europe the assumption runs the other way.
- It sits inside a crowded family — Alexa, Alexia, Alexus, Alexandra, Alexander — and Alexis is sometimes heard or written as one of those. The short form Alex belongs to all of them.
- Alexa is now also a household voice assistant, and the two names are near enough that the joke will occasionally surface, usually from adults rather than children.
Angel
Strengths
- Works unchanged in English and Spanish — one spelling, no translation needed, though the pronunciation shifts.
- The meaning is transparent to almost everyone, with no need to explain it.
- A long, unbroken record in American use rather than a recent arrival, and no sign of dropping away.
To consider
- Two live pronunciations, AYN-jul and AHN-hel, means some introductions will need a correction — and which one a stranger reaches for often depends on where you are.
- The word is also a common endearment in English, which can invite the obvious jokes at school and the obvious puns on greeting cards for life.
- This spelling goes overwhelmingly to boys in the United States, so a girl named Angel will meet paperwork and teachers that assume otherwise — worth knowing, not worth fearing.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Alexis
84%chance Alexis feels dated by 2040
Alexis is coming down from a big peak (#3 in 1999). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
Angel
40%chance Angel feels dated by 2040
Angel 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 Alexis and Angel 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 Alexis and Angel?
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
- Beloved classics quietly disappearing
- Names of the '80s and '90s, currently resting
- Classics hiding in plain sight
- Generation Z names (born 1997–2012)
- all guides
Where Alexis and Angel each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Alexis or Angel — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Alexis or Angel?
- Angel, in 2025: Angel ranked #546 with 551 babies; Alexis ranked #554 with 547 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Alexis or Angel?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Alexis moved down 243 places; Angel moved down 110 places.
- Which is the older name, Alexis or Angel?
- Alexis entered the US charts in 1931; Angel entered the US charts in 1894. On the American record, Angel is the older name.
- How many people are named Alexis and Angel?
- About 339,000 people named Alexis are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 97,500 people named Angel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Alexiss or Angels in the classroom?
- Alexis will almost certainly be the only one in school. Angel 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 Alexis, Angel 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