Head to head · Boys' names
Alexis vs Azriel
#513 vs #529 in 2025
Alexis is a whisker ahead (#513 vs #529 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Alexis is holding its place on the charts, Azriel is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Azriel 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, Alexis leads 5 measures of 6; Azriel 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: Alexis #879, Azriel — — Alexis higher
- 1890s: Alexis #1079, Azriel — — Alexis higher
- 1900s: Alexis #1345, Azriel — — Alexis higher
- 1910s: Alexis #1785, Azriel — — Alexis higher
- 1920s: Alexis #2306, Azriel — — Alexis higher
- 1930s: Alexis #2435, Azriel — — Alexis higher
- 1940s: Alexis #2036, Azriel — — Alexis higher
- 1950s: Alexis #1370, Azriel — — Alexis higher
- 1960s: Alexis #795, Azriel — — Alexis higher
- 1970s: Alexis #591, Azriel #4659 — Alexis higher
- 1980s: Alexis #380, Azriel #5435 — Alexis higher
- 1990s: Alexis #225, Azriel #5369 — Alexis higher
- 2000s: Alexis #148, Azriel #2286 — Alexis higher
- 2010s: Alexis #328, Azriel #1570 — Alexis higher
- 2020s: Alexis #479, Azriel #762 — Alexis higher
Alexis stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Alexis | Azriel |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #879 | — |
| 1890s | #1079 | — |
| 1900s | #1345 | — |
| 1910s | #1785 | — |
| 1920s | #2306 | — |
| 1930s | #2435 | — |
| 1940s | #2036 | — |
| 1950s | #1370 | — |
| 1960s | #795 | — |
| 1970s | #591 | #4659 |
| 1980s | #380 | #5435 |
| 1990s | #225 | #5369 |
| 2000s | #148 | #2286 |
| 2010s | #328 | #1570 |
| 2020s | #479 | #762 |
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.
Azriel
God is my help
From Hebrew ezer, "help", and El, "God". The same root sits inside Ezra and Azariah, which is why the three names often turn up in the same families.
עַזְרִיאֵל (Azri'el, Hebrew) → Ezriel → Azriel
How it traveled
The name is Hebrew and biblical. Azriel appears in the book of Jeremiah as the father of Seraiah, and twice in Chronicles — once as a clan chief of Manasseh, once as a father of an officer under David — never as a major figure, always as a name someone already had.
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.
Azriel
AZ-ree-el
American English usually stresses the first syllable. Hebrew puts the weight at the end — ahz-ree-EL — and both are heard in families that use the name.
- Az — The most direct short form, informal, used by friends and siblings.
- Ari — Common shortening in Hebrew-speaking and Jewish families; also a standalone given name in its own right.
- Azzy — Playful, mostly used in early childhood.
- Riel — Less common; takes the tail of the name rather than the head.
- Also Z.
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 most people already know#513 in 2025, 584 babies that year
- a name holding steadyAlexis is holding its place on the charts
- a name with more sound in itAlexis runs 3 syllables, Azriel 2
Choose Azriel if you want…
- a name fewer children share#529 in 2025 — azriel will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name on the way upup 594 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesAzriel is 2 syllables to Alexis's 3
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.
Azriel
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds: a reader who has never met the name can usually say it on the first try.
- A documented biblical name with a continuous record in Jewish use, rather than a recent coinage.
- Works in English and Spanish with the same spelling and nearly the same sound.
To consider
- Azrael, one letter apart, is the name given to the angel of death in later Jewish mystical and Islamic tradition — and to a cartoon cat. Expect the occasional raised eyebrow, and expect to correct the spelling.
- It is close enough to Azariah, Asriel and Ezriel that some people will hear or write the wrong one. Repeating it slowly usually settles the matter.
- The name is rising rather than settled, so a child named Azriel will likely be the only one in a classroom now, while meeting more namesakes as their own generation grows up.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Alexis
40%chance Alexis feels dated by 2040
Alexis 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.
Azriel
58%chance Azriel feels dated by 2040
Azriel 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 Alexis and Azriel 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 Azriel?
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 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
Where Alexis and Azriel each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Alexis or Azriel — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Alexis or Azriel?
- Alexis, in 2025: Alexis ranked #513 with 584 babies; Azriel ranked #529 with 566 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Alexis or Azriel?
- Azriel. Over the last five years Alexis moved down 32 places; Azriel moved up 594 places.
- Which is the older name, Alexis or Azriel?
- Alexis entered the US charts in 1882; Azriel entered the US charts in 1972. On the American record, Alexis is the older name.
- How many people are named Alexis and Azriel?
- About 66,000 people named Alexis are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 4,000 people named Azriel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Alexiss or Azriels in the classroom?
- Alexis will almost certainly be the only one in school. Azriel 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, Azriel and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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