Head to head · Boys' names
Alexis vs Moses
#513 vs #515 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Alexis is a whisker ahead (#513 vs #515 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. 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, Alexis leads 4 measures of 6; Moses 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, Moses #158 — Moses higher
- 1890s: Alexis #1079, Moses #192 — Moses higher
- 1900s: Alexis #1345, Moses #210 — Moses higher
- 1910s: Alexis #1785, Moses #264 — Moses higher
- 1920s: Alexis #2306, Moses #301 — Moses higher
- 1930s: Alexis #2435, Moses #332 — Moses higher
- 1940s: Alexis #2036, Moses #375 — Moses higher
- 1950s: Alexis #1370, Moses #441 — Moses higher
- 1960s: Alexis #795, Moses #543 — Moses higher
- 1970s: Alexis #591, Moses #489 — Moses higher
- 1980s: Alexis #380, Moses #482 — Alexis higher
- 1990s: Alexis #225, Moses #540 — Alexis higher
- 2000s: Alexis #148, Moses #475 — Alexis higher
- 2010s: Alexis #328, Moses #490 — Alexis higher
- 2020s: Alexis #479, Moses #513 — Alexis higher
Moses stood higher in 10 of 15 decades; Alexis has held the lead since the 1980s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Alexis | Moses |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #879 | #158 |
| 1890s | #1079 | #192 |
| 1900s | #1345 | #210 |
| 1910s | #1785 | #264 |
| 1920s | #2306 | #301 |
| 1930s | #2435 | #332 |
| 1940s | #2036 | #375 |
| 1950s | #1370 | #441 |
| 1960s | #795 | #543 |
| 1970s | #591 | #489 |
| 1980s | #380 | #482 |
| 1990s | #225 | #540 |
| 2000s | #148 | #475 |
| 2010s | #328 | #490 |
| 2020s | #479 | #513 |
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.
Moses
Either 'drawn out of the water' or 'son, born of' — the two readings compete
The Book of Exodus supplies the Hebrew reading, tying the name to mashah, 'to draw out', because the child was drawn from the river. Many scholars of Egyptian instead connect it to the element ms or mose, 'son, born of', the same piece that ends Thutmose and Ramesses. Both readings are serious, and the name has carried both for a very long time.
Mosheh → Mōusēs → Moses
How it traveled
The name begins in Hebrew as Mosheh, borne by the central figure of the Exodus narrative. The Greek translators of the Hebrew Bible rendered it Mōusēs, Latin took it as Moses, and English inherited that spelling essentially unchanged — a rare case of a name crossing three languages without being reshaped.
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.
Moses
MOH-ziz
Two syllables, stress on the first. The final syllable is usually a soft -ziz, though MOH-zis and MOH-zez are both heard. The Spanish Moisés and Arabic Musa sound quite different, which is worth knowing in a bilingual family.
- Mo — The everyday short form; also stands alone as a given name and serves as the nickname for Mohammed, Maurice and Monica.
- Moe — Same sound, fuller spelling, more often seen among older generations.
- Mose — An older American short form, one syllable, still heard in the South.
- Moss — Used occasionally, mainly in Jewish families where it also exists as a surname.
- Also Moshe.
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 holding steadyAlexis is holding its place on the charts
- a name with more sound in itAlexis runs 3 syllables, Moses 2
- a newer arrivalAlexis entered the US charts in 1882
Choose Moses if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesMoses is 2 syllables to Alexis's 3
- a long American recordMoses was already in use when US records began in 1880
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.
Moses
Strengths
- Recognized and spelled correctly almost everywhere in the English-speaking world, with no competing variant spellings to correct.
- Has a form in most major languages — Moshe, Musa, Moisés, Moïse — so it travels without becoming unrecognizable.
- Comes with ready-made short forms in Mo and Moe, both long established and neither invented on the spot.
To consider
- The biblical association is total. Nobody hears this name without thinking of the Exodus figure first, and that is not a connection the name can be given a break from.
- The final -s makes the possessive awkward in writing — Moses' or Moses's, both defensible, neither settled — and forms will occasionally record it as a surname.
- It reads as an adult name more than a baby name, and currently sits with a noticeably older typical bearer. Some parents like that weight; it is worth knowing it is there.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
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 Moses 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 Moses?
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
- Names with an X in them
- Greek names with ancient roots
- Victorian names ready for a second century
- Names that begin and end with the same letter
- all guides
Where Alexis and Moses each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Alexis or Moses — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Alexis or Moses?
- Alexis, in 2025: Alexis ranked #513 with 584 babies; Moses ranked #515 with 583 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Alexis or Moses?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Alexis moved down 32 places; Moses moved down 22 places.
- Which is the older name, Alexis or Moses?
- Alexis entered the US charts in 1882; Moses was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Moses is the older name.
- How many people are named Alexis and Moses?
- About 66,000 people named Alexis are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 29,500 people named Moses are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Alexiss or Mosess in the classroom?
- Alexis will almost certainly be the only one in school. Moses 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, Moses 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